Re: [PATCH] tools: Use builtin $(abspath ...) instead of $(shell cd ... && pwd)

[Maciej W. Rozycki]

On Mon, 18 Apr 2016, Thierry Reding wrote:

> > > Avoid forking off a shell to resolve the absolute path of the output
> > > directory when make's builtin $(abspath ...) function will do an
> > > adequate job.
> > 
> > The abspath function is not available in make 3.80.
> 
> Do we really support make 3.80? It was released in 2002 and 3.81
> followed in April 2006. That makes it a decade old now. I'd be surprised
> if anyone was still using it to build recent kernels.
> 
> Is there a formal process for increasing the dependencies listed in
> Documentation/Changes? Should I simply make that change as part of this
> patch? Do we need broad approval?

 Hmm, what problem are you trying to solve here?  Your proposal looks to 
me like a gratuitous requirement for users to upgrade their tool (its age 
doesn't matter), which is often a burden and in any case requires extra 
time which could be used for something else.  Don't fix what ain't broke!

  Maciej