[1/7] gdb: update README about the GNU make requirement
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Commit Message
The README still suggests that GDB can be built with a make other than GNU
make, which is not the case since 2016 (f2ff9acd32b4 "Document new hard
requirement on GNU make").
The manual already lists GNU make in the requirements:
GNU make
GDB's build system relies on features only found in the GNU make
program. Other variants of make will not work.
and the minimum version is documented in gdb/NEWS:
* Building GDB and GDBserver now requires GNU make >= 3.82.
Bring the README in line with that.
- Mention the GNU make requirement, including the minimum version, near
where we also state the C++17 compiler requirement.
- Drop the "if your make program handles the VPATH feature correctly"
part from the "Compiling GDB in another directory" section.
- Drop the warning about --srcdir requiring GNU make.
- Drop the "If you use GNU make" conditional from the paragraph about
running the testsuite in parallel.
Change-Id: I5c0387d977ab87069c01c0249c51b2f30318a0c7
---
gdb/README | 15 +++++++--------
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
Comments
> From: Simon Marchi <simon.marchi@efficios.com>
> Cc: Simon Marchi <simon.marchi@efficios.com>
> Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:51:40 -0400
>
> The README still suggests that GDB can be built with a make other than GNU
> make, which is not the case since 2016 (f2ff9acd32b4 "Document new hard
> requirement on GNU make").
>
> The manual already lists GNU make in the requirements:
>
> GNU make
> GDB's build system relies on features only found in the GNU make
> program. Other variants of make will not work.
>
> and the minimum version is documented in gdb/NEWS:
>
> * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires GNU make >= 3.82.
>
> Bring the README in line with that.
>
> - Mention the GNU make requirement, including the minimum version, near
> where we also state the C++17 compiler requirement.
>
> - Drop the "if your make program handles the VPATH feature correctly"
> part from the "Compiling GDB in another directory" section.
>
> - Drop the warning about --srcdir requiring GNU make.
>
> - Drop the "If you use GNU make" conditional from the paragraph about
> running the testsuite in parallel.
>
> Change-Id: I5c0387d977ab87069c01c0249c51b2f30318a0c7
> ---
> gdb/README | 15 +++++++--------
> 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
Thanks, this is okay.
Reviewed-By: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
On 2026-09-01 08:26, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> From: Simon Marchi <simon.marchi@efficios.com>
>> Cc: Simon Marchi <simon.marchi@efficios.com>
>> Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:51:40 -0400
>>
>> The README still suggests that GDB can be built with a make other than GNU
>> make, which is not the case since 2016 (f2ff9acd32b4 "Document new hard
>> requirement on GNU make").
>>
>> The manual already lists GNU make in the requirements:
>>
>> GNU make
>> GDB's build system relies on features only found in the GNU make
>> program. Other variants of make will not work.
>>
>> and the minimum version is documented in gdb/NEWS:
>>
>> * Building GDB and GDBserver now requires GNU make >= 3.82.
>>
>> Bring the README in line with that.
>>
>> - Mention the GNU make requirement, including the minimum version, near
>> where we also state the C++17 compiler requirement.
>>
>> - Drop the "if your make program handles the VPATH feature correctly"
>> part from the "Compiling GDB in another directory" section.
>>
>> - Drop the warning about --srcdir requiring GNU make.
>>
>> - Drop the "If you use GNU make" conditional from the paragraph about
>> running the testsuite in parallel.
>>
>> Change-Id: I5c0387d977ab87069c01c0249c51b2f30318a0c7
>> ---
>> gdb/README | 15 +++++++--------
>> 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
>
> Thanks, this is okay.
>
> Reviewed-By: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
Thanks, I have pushed this single patch.
Simon
@@ -82,6 +82,9 @@ list of options, invoke the subdirectory `configure', like:
(Take note of how this differs from the invocation used to actually
configure the build tree.)
+ Building GDB requires GNU make version 3.82 or later; other `make'
+programs will not work.
+
GDB requires a C++17 compiler. If you do not have a
C++17 compiler for your system, you may be able to download and install
the GNU CC compiler. It is available via anonymous FTP from the
@@ -254,10 +257,8 @@ Compiling GDB in another directory
you need a different `gdb' compiled for each combination of host and
target. `configure' is designed to make this easy by allowing you to
generate each configuration in a separate subdirectory, rather than in
-the source directory. If your `make' program handles the `VPATH'
-feature correctly (GNU `make' and SunOS 'make' are two that should),
-running `make' in each of these directories builds the `gdb' program
-specified there.
+the source directory. Running `make' in each of these directories
+builds the `gdb' program specified there.
To build `gdb' in a separate directory, run `configure' with the
`--srcdir' option to specify where to find the source. (You also need
@@ -367,8 +368,6 @@ more obscure GDB `configure' options are not listed here.
`DIR'.
`--srcdir=PATH'
- *Warning: using this option requires GNU `make', or another `make'
- that compatibly implements the `VPATH' feature.*
Use this option to make configurations in directories separate
from the GDB source directories. Among other things, you can use
this to build (or maintain) several configurations simultaneously,
@@ -778,8 +777,8 @@ When using a `make'-based method, you can use the Makefile variable
make RUNTESTFLAGS=--directory=gdb.cp check
-If you use GNU make, you can use its `-j' option to run the testsuite
-in parallel. This can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for
+You can use the `-j' option of `make' to run the testsuite in
+parallel. This can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for
the testsuite to run. In this case, if you set `RUNTESTFLAGS' then,
by default, the tests will be run serially even under `-j'. You can
override this and force a parallel run by setting the `make' variable