URL: <https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?68034>
Summary: make out-of-tree build the default, and explore
dropping in-tree support
Group: GNU roff
Submitter: None
Submitted: Mon 09 Feb 2026 07:49:14 AM UTC
Category: General
Severity: 3 - Normal
Item Group: Build/Installation
Status: None
Privacy: Public
Assigned to: None
Open/Closed: Open
Discussion Lock: Unlocked
Planned Release: None
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Follow-up Comments:
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Date: Mon 09 Feb 2026 07:49:14 AM UTC By: Anonymous
Ingo Schwarze said (http://lists.gnu.org/r/groff/2026-01/msg00078.html):
"I doubt that the current in-tree/out-of-tree situation makes much sense.
IIUC, the maintainer... prefers out-of-tree by a significant margin, and
rarely tests in-tree. Why, then, is in-tree the default?
"I would even go one step further. Given that you prefer out-of-tree, that it
is objectively cleaner and better tested, why is in-tree even supported at
all? Simply deleting the code supporting in-tree and making all builds
out-of-tree naively looks like a win for everyone: less maintenance and
testing effort for you and more cleanliness and better testing for the benefit
of users."
In a separate thread (http://lists.gnu.org/r/groff/2026-02/msg00038.html),
Branden responded to the latter question:
"I don't have an answer apart from 'inertia'. However, we must be mindful of
how inertia manifests. If the bits of the GNU build system that we use
generally presume and advertise support for in-tree builds, we could be
trading one pile of grief for another by breaking that presumption, and by
violating user expectations."
So, after 1.24 is released, changing the default to out-of-tree seems a
worthwhile step, and dropping in-tree support altogether is worth exploring.
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