[Coco] ack!

[Tormod Volden]

On Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 5:24 PM, Gene Heskett wrote:
> On Monday 03 June 2013 11:13:02 Tormod Volden did opine:
>> Why is the apparently troublesome NITROS9DIR variable at all required
>> for building stuff /inside/ this directory tree? The stuff inside
>> should probably just use relative paths. AFAICS a such variable only
>> makes sense for an out-of-tree build of third-party modules.
>
> Because its absolute.  Using all those ../../../ stacks can be just another
> headache, one that excedrin is incapable of alleviating.  The use of local
> vars, while not obvious to some, is a great way to maintain control over
> any project.  If we didn't have it, we'd have to invent it, its that
> useful.

No, I don't agree. That you get a headache from sorting out the
correct relative path doesn't make a great argument for introducing
environment variables for those who just want to build it. We just
need to get the ../../.. stack right once and things will be fine.
Variables can make you lose control too. For example, imagine you
build one tree but use a variable set for another. If you want the
convenience of variables inside the makefiles, the top level makefile
should automatically set such variables (typically $TOP_DIR) and pass
them on to the lower level makefiles.

I have to admit I don't know much about typical nitros-9 build
patterns though and have hardly looked at the makefiles. I just tested
the build instructions by running a top-level make.

> Here, I have a much larger problem with the password requester on a bash
> screen, I have no way of knowing if its an automatic sudo asking for my
> local pw, or if its srcfrg asking for my srcfrg password, a much longer pw.
> The password: prompt is the same.

Automatic sudo sounds like a bad idea because you don't know exactly
to what you are giving superuser powers. Anyway, I use public keys for
Sourceforge so my key agent will ask for a passphrase, whereas sudo
will ask for password.

> I probably don't help the perms problems here by building nitros9 in the
> /opt tree, then doing the chown so its visible on my web page.  And some is
> not ATM, or is dangerous because everything is being built for 6309's only
> with the current rules.mak.

My advice would be to keep the nitros9 tree in your home directory, or
sudo chown $USER /opt and unpack/pull the stuff there as $USER.

Tormod