X-Git-Url: http://erislabs.net/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fmake-stds.texi;h=055996e0882b37c3301dc8041609918f7eb1388c;hb=f2f428037cd5dcf93c4cc8cfacf4dd92f0f250bd;hp=205a6db2a14134db29433d77e8d523a78718ffa7;hpb=beeb1a36059a79d5b5514f2cc98fef0f0eb71717;p=gnulib.git

diff --git a/doc/make-stds.texi b/doc/make-stds.texi
index 205a6db2a..055996e08 100644
--- a/doc/make-stds.texi
+++ b/doc/make-stds.texi
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@
 @cindex conventions for makefiles
 @cindex standards for makefiles
 
-@c Copyright (C) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001,
-@c 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-
+@c Copyright 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001,
+@c 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+@c
 @c Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
-@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
+@c under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
 @c or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
 @c with no Invariant Sections, with no
 @c Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts.
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ chapter
 @end iftex
 describes conventions for writing the Makefiles for GNU programs.
 Using Automake will help you write a Makefile that follows these
-conventions.
+conventions.  For more information on portable Makefiles, see
+@sc{posix} and @ref{Portable Make, Portable Make Programming,, autoconf,
+Autoconf}.
+
 
 @menu
 * Makefile Basics::             General conventions for Makefiles.
@@ -144,8 +147,10 @@ subtargets) work correctly with a parallel @code{make}.
 @section Utilities in Makefiles
 
 Write the Makefile commands (and any shell scripts, such as
-@code{configure}) to run in @code{sh}, not in @code{csh}.  Don't use any
-special features of @code{ksh} or @code{bash}.
+@code{configure}) to run under @code{sh} (both the traditional Bourne
+shell and the @sc{posix} shell), not @code{csh}.  Don't use any
+special features of @code{ksh} or @code{bash}, or @sc{posix} features
+not widely supported in traditional Bourne @code{sh}.
 
 The @code{configure} script and the Makefile rules for building and
 installation should not use any utilities directly except these:
@@ -156,17 +161,22 @@ installation should not use any utilities directly except these:
 
 @example
 awk cat cmp cp diff echo egrep expr false grep install-info
-ln ls mkdir mv pwd rm rmdir sed sleep sort tar test touch true
+ln ls mkdir mv pwd rm rmdir sed sleep sort tar test touch tr true
 @end example
 
-The compression program @code{gzip} can be used in the @code{dist} rule.
+Compression programs such as @code{gzip} can be used in the
+@code{dist} rule.
+
+Generally, stick to the widely-supported (usually
+@sc{posix}-specified) options and features of these programs.  For
+example, don't use @samp{mkdir -p}, convenient as it may be, because a
+few systems don't support it at all and with others, it is not safe
+for parallel execution.  For a list of known incompatibilities, see
+@ref{Portable Shell, Portable Shell Programming,, autoconf, Autoconf}.
 
-Stick to the generally supported options for these programs.  For
-example, don't use @samp{mkdir -p}, convenient as it may be, because
-most systems don't support it.
 
 It is a good idea to avoid creating symbolic links in makefiles, since a
-few systems don't support them.
+few file systems don't support them.
 
 The Makefile rules for building and installation can also use compilers
 and related programs, but should do so via @code{make} variables so that the
@@ -958,6 +968,8 @@ then @code{tar} that subdirectory.
 
 Compress the tar file with @code{gzip}.  For example, the actual
 distribution file for GCC version 1.40 is called @file{gcc-1.40.tar.gz}.
+It is ok to support other free compression formats as well, such as
+@code{bzip2} and @code{lzma}.
 
 The @code{dist} target should explicitly depend on all non-source files
 that are in the distribution, to make sure they are up to date in the