> Good LORD! This is the most ridiculous post I've ever seen. You're
> basically saying that everyone should use a slower, inferior piece of
> software (awk) just because you happen to not like its replacement?
> Grow up!
He's right in as much as it's a pain if the kernel starts to depend on
more and more arbitrary bits of software that not everybody may have
installed, and of which there are lots of incompatible versions out there.
For example, I expect a lot of people would complain quite loudly if "make
config" and Menuconfig were removed because "xconfig is the way forward".
That may be true, but not everybody wants to install Tcl/Tk (and in some
cases X) just to configure a kernel. I know that's a slightly more
extreme case than the perl/awk thing, but the idea is the same.
I suspect the original poster wasn't necessarily demanding that a
(fictitious, apparently) perl "make depend" not be added, but requesting
that it be an _addition_ rather than a replacement so that those who want
to use it can, and he doesn't have to. Which is a perfectly valid thing
to ask for.
> Besides, the point is moot anyway, since Linus did it in C.
Indeed.