Differing projects have come to different conclusions about whether to include a generated configure.
But the standard seems to be to include one. The mantra is: "./configure && make" without an autoconf step. The number of people building openjdk is much larger than the number of people patching configure. So I agree with David that we should stick with the status quo. On Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 6:14 PM, David Holmes <david.hol...@oracle.com> wrote: > On 18/01/2018 11:28 PM, Magnus Ihse Bursie wrote: > >> Currently, we require all developers who modify the configure script to >> run autoconf locally, to update the generated-configure.sh script, which is >> then checked in. This is the only instance of checked in "compiled" code in >> OpenJDK, and this has brought along several problems: >> >> * Only a specific version of autoconf, 2.69, can be used, to avoid large >> code changes in the generated file. Unfortunately, Ubuntu ships a version >> of autoconf that claims to be 2.69 but is actually heavily patched. This >> requires all Ubuntu users to compiler their own autoconf from source. >> >> * The Oracle JDK closed sources has a closed version that needs to be >> updated. In practice, this has meant that all non-Oracle developers, need >> an Oracle sponsor for patches modifying the configure script. >> >> * If the configure script is not properly updated, the build will fail. >> The same happens on the Oracle side if the closed version is not in sync >> with the open version. It is easy to miss re-generating the script after >> the last fix of a typo in the comments in an .m4 file... >> >> * Merging between two changes containing configure modifications is >> almost impossible. In practice, the entire generated-configure.sh needs to >> be thrown away and regenerated. >> >> The entire benefit of having the file in the repo is to save first-time >> developers the hassle of installing autoconf. On most platforms, this is a >> no-brainer (like "apt install autoconf"), and the requirement is similar to >> other open source projects using autoconf and "./configure". It's just not >> worth it. >> > > I'm not convinced just by you saying it is so - sorry. This seems to make > an already complex build process even more complex for every single person > who wants to build OpenJDK, for the benefit of a handful of people who may > want to modify configure options and whom already work closely with the > build team and so there's really little hardship in getting a sponsor, or > just someone with access to autoconf. > > It introduces a new point of failure in the build for everyone. > > Has this been beta-tested with external contributors? I'd be happier > knowing we've put this through its paces with people developing on a wide > range of platforms, before making it the default. > > Have the devkits been updated so I can try this out myself? > > Thanks, > David > > > Bug: https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8195689 >> WebRev: http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~ihse/JDK-8195689-remove-generate >> d-configure/webrev.01 >> > > >> /Magnus >> >
