From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on dcvr.yhbt.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.7 required=3.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,DKIM_INVALID, DKIM_SIGNED,HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H4,RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_WL,SPF_HELO_PASS,SPF_PASS shortcircuit=no autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from lists.gnu.org (lists.gnu.org [209.51.188.17]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by dcvr.yhbt.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 9CAA31F4B4 for ; Sun, 20 Dec 2020 17:10:18 +0000 (UTC) Received: from localhost ([::1]:58506 helo=lists1p.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kr2Dp-0003m9-Pq for normalperson@yhbt.net; Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:10:17 -0500 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:54146) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kr2Dh-0003lT-HI; Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:10:09 -0500 Received: from mailbackend.panix.com ([166.84.1.89]:59662) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kr2Db-00054W-Te; Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:10:09 -0500 Received: from mail-ed1-f51.google.com (mail-ed1-f51.google.com [209.85.208.51]) by mailbackend.panix.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 4CzTcV4tZ6zYQ6; Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:10:02 -0500 (EST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=simple/simple; d=panix.com; s=panix; t=1608484202; bh=bWGJ/KF03Z8fZd3Jt96q4ui0d3tjhUzfs7fTxF1YiGs=; h=References:In-Reply-To:From:Date:Subject:To:Cc; b=eH71I4sjZIZGnJYIH6ZnlKHqUYFfHJMn4qjhtJGbnw6xlJAlkrAs3wkTSISttwBb5 gkvDc4/clRR3cZYphAsL/+IZSCoEd4X8r0Xt+RaUSkDSQiJ0bqzRDqtO+VspEhvnlK 0t4efdlDJ8EUqN9REth0XT9//LHj+0AQNrdJkv9U= Received: by mail-ed1-f51.google.com with SMTP id u19so7417898edx.2; Sun, 20 Dec 2020 09:10:02 -0800 (PST) X-Gm-Message-State: AOAM532X3df3ycDCDvRdjYq0RO7DeXktFLfKgNEDxpx/ZrDt+Tejl7mC 1ciDUy2HU0faWR0AM/BD7YHZBt2R69siAMQypyU= X-Google-Smtp-Source: ABdhPJxKBhND2fBY2uTeXx+TSOXN/cwjljGiddOARmoVD+vNi2zkxC0RA7kQdSFkC+t655fH7kk3sIePlvTjvLUZzmc= X-Received: by 2002:a50:f745:: with SMTP id j5mr12898476edn.92.1608484201770; Sun, 20 Dec 2020 09:10:01 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <2341614.bDMEWdF0VO@omega> In-Reply-To: From: Zack Weinberg Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2020 12:09:50 -0500 X-Gmail-Original-Message-ID: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Request to revert the C version change To: Ross Burton Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Received-SPF: pass client-ip=166.84.1.89; envelope-from=zackw@panix.com; helo=mailbackend.panix.com X-Spam_score_int: -43 X-Spam_score: -4.4 X-Spam_bar: ---- X-Spam_report: (-4.4 / 5.0 requ) BAYES_00=-1.9, DKIM_SIGNED=0.1, DKIM_VALID=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_AU=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_EF=-0.1, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_MED=-2.3, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H3=-0.01, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_WL=-0.01, SPF_HELO_NONE=0.001, SPF_PASS=-0.001 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no X-Spam_action: no action X-BeenThere: bug-gnulib@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: Gnulib discussion list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: Gnulib bugs , Autoconf , Bruno Haible Errors-To: bug-gnulib-bounces+normalperson=yhbt.net@gnu.org Sender: "bug-gnulib" On Sun, Dec 20, 2020 at 11:54 AM Ross Burton wrote: > On Sun, 20 Dec 2020 at 16:46, Bruno Haible wrote: >> This patch is already in Gnulib since 2020-12-09. But when people >> run 'autoreconf' on an existing released tarball, they are effectively >> combining an older Gnulib with a newest Autoconf. >> >> Why do people do that? The point of tarballs is that you can run >> './configure' right away. >> >> If people want to modify the build infrastructure, it would often be >> more reasonable to start off the git repository of the package (possibly >> from a specific release tag or release branch). > > Because it=E2=80=99s not uncommon to need newer config.status, or updated= m4 files, or to patch Makefile.am or configure.ac. Also, in my experience downstream redistributors prefer to work from tarballs, for several different reasons: tarballs tend to come with more provenance information (e.g. PGP signatures); working from a git checkout may require any number of unusual tools that aren't required for tarball releases; figuring out exactly which git commit corresponds to a tarball is often more difficult than it ought to be; and so on. I'm not happy about needing to kludge backward compatibility with the older std-gnu11.m4 into autoconf 2.70.1 but I'm going to do it. zw