GNU bug report logs - #31417
Compilation failure when source directory is renamed to automake

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Charles Gonnaud <charles.gonnaud <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-automake <at> gnu.org
Subject: Compilation failure when source directory is renamed to automake
Date: Fri, 11 May 2018 17:40:55 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hello all,

I encountered some difficulties today when trying to compile automake
1.16.1 from the sources : automake wouldn't compile if the parent directory
was named automake.

If this is not a bug but a feature, a simple warning message would be nice
to prevent some other people from losing their mind link i did !

To reproduce the issue (one colleague of mine reproduced it):
# Code to reproduce the issue
tar -xzf automake-1.16.1.tar.gz
cp -r automake-1.16.1 automake

#This line will fail
cd automake && ./configure && make -j4

#This line will succeed
cd automake-1.16.1 && ./configure && make -j4

Error output :
[17:18:00] charles <at> localhost ~/dev/automake > make -j4
  GEN      t/testsuite-part.am
  GEN      m4/amversion.m4
CDPATH="${ZSH_VERSION+.}:" && cd . &&
"/home/charles/dev/automake/pre-inst-env" aclocal-1.16
/home/charles/dev/automake/pre-inst-env: line 41: exec: aclocal-1.16: not
found
make: *** [aclocal.m4] Error 127
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....

Success output :
[17:18:19] charles <at> localhost ~/dev/automake-1.16.1 > make -j4
  GEN      bin/automake
  GEN      bin/aclocal
  GEN      t/ax/shell-no-trail-bslash
  GEN      t/ax/cc-no-c-o
  GEN      runtest
  GEN      doc/aclocal.1
  GEN      doc/automake.1
  GEN      lib/Automake/Config.pm
  GEN      t/ax/test-defs.sh
  GEN      bin/aclocal-1.16
  GEN      bin/automake-1.16
  GEN      doc/aclocal-1.16.1
  GEN      doc/automake-1.16.1

Thanks and good luck,
Charles

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #8 received at 31417 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Hans-Bernhard Bröker <HBBroeker <at> t-online.de>
To: Charles Gonnaud <charles.gonnaud <at> gmail.com>, 31417 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#31417: Compilation failure when source directory is renamed
 to automake
Date: Fri, 11 May 2018 19:49:11 +0200

Am 11.05.2018 um 17:40 schrieb Charles Gonnaud:
> Hello all,
> 
> I encountered some difficulties today when trying to compile automake 
> 1.16.1 from the sources : automake wouldn't compile if the parent 
> directory was named automake.

[...]
> cp -r automake-1.16.1 automake

Ah, but you're not just renaming it: you're copying the whole thing, and 
throwing away the original timestamps in the process!

That's rather a different kettle of fish, because it triggers re-build 
rules that have to run automake itself, trapping you in a chicken-or-egg 
cycle.

I'm relatively sure that an actual rename would have worked better, as 
should an attribute-preserved copy:

	cp -a automake-1.16.1 automake	

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