[PLUG] Compiling Packages: Which Directory?

[Russell Senior]

>>>>> "Paul" == Paul Mullen <pem at nellump.net> writes:

Paul> When building software packages from source, is there any
Paul> convention as to which directory the compilation actually takes
Paul> place in? I've read in some places that it's recommended to
Paul> un-tar the source package to a src/ directory, and then move to
Paul> a complementary build/ directory before going through the 'make'
Paul> steps. In my experience, though, that doesn't always work. Some
Paul> packages barf completely when you attempt to build them in a
Paul> directory other than that which contains their source tree.  Any
Paul> thoughts?

Yes, sometimes it barfs.  In barfing cases, you do what works.  In
lazy cases, you can usually build in the source directory anyway.
Some packages recommend against srcdir==objdir (e.g. gcc):

 ``First, we highly recommend that GCC be built into a separate directory
   than the sources which does not reside within the source tree. This is
   how we generally build GCC; building where srcdir == objdir should
   still work, but doesn't get extensive testing; building where objdir
   is a subdirectory of srcdir is unsupported.''


-- 
Russell Senior         ``I have nine fingers; you have ten.''
seniorr at aracnet.com