[Build-common-hackers] Bug#578303: Bug#578303: Bug#578303: Splits CC into multiple env-var words

[Peter Eisentraut]

On sön, 2010-04-18 at 23:14 +0200, Jonas Smedegaard wrote:
> severity 578303 wishlist
> retitle 578303 would be nice if CC could hold part of commandline
> tags 578303 wontfix
> thanks
> 
> On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 09:39:12PM +0300, Peter Eisentraut wrote:
> 
> >Followup to #576967, here is a valid example of a multiword CC
> >
> >CC='ccache gcc'
> 
> That's abuse of the CC variable.  Only if treated as part of a command 
> line (as opposed to a single command) will it work.

What else would you use it for?

> The CC variable is not supposed to hold a part of a commandline, but a 
> single command.

I have to ask, where do you get this idea?  The above has worked forever
and I have had it in use for a long time.  Using multiple words for CC
is common in autotools land and is required in some situations, such as when
you have to choose the target architecture by means of an argument.  Why are
you so opposed to allowing it?

Also note that using multiword values is common for other command variables,
such as

CPP = gcc -E
YACC = bison -y

These are analogous to CC in all respects I can think of, except of course
that make doesn't set them by default.

> As is documented in its man page, when ccache is used in an environment 
> too large to compose the commandline by hand, use the alternative 
> approach of symlinked commands instead of appending ccache in front of 
> the actual compiler name.

There are always ways around everything, but that doesn't mean one has
to battle to prohibit the alternatives.