Hi Brian; It's not clear from your email exactly what you are suggesting, other than the fact you don't like make syntax... this is understandable, but...
The most fundamental feature of GNU make, which will always and forever be true, is that it conforms to the POSIX standard for make. GNU make has many added, powerful features, it's true, but if you have a makefile that is written to the POSIX make standard, GNU make should be able to read that makefile and handle it properly. Thus, all conversation about drastic reworking of the syntax of makefiles in massively incompatible ways is misplaced. It won't ever happen. There won't ever be (as far as I'm concerned) a "GNU make next-generation" that has a completely new, incompatible syntax. If that's what you're looking for you don't have to wait, or write it yourself: there are plenty of other build tools already available out there, some with syntax similar to what you're thinking of. If all you've considered is Ant and make you've not even begun to dip your feet into the sea (well... lake...) of build tools available. Many of them are free software, too. Just to name the most popular ones there're cook and scons. Of course, enhancements which do not conflict with POSIX, or which might in small ways but require special flags or targets or whatever to enable, are certainly reasonable. In fact I have a patch I wrote a while back which allows a makefile to redefine the character that introduces a command script from a TAB to any other character (although it still must be a single character, so you can't say "any whitespace")... for example a character like ">" gives the makefile a readable quality. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul D. Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Find some GNU make tips at: http://www.gnu.org http://make.paulandlesley.org "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist _______________________________________________ Bug-make mailing list Bug-make@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-make