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Re: Problems with evolving feature test macros?
- From: Paul Eggert <eggert at cs dot ucla dot edu>
- To: mtk dot manpages at gmail dot com
- Cc: "libc-alpha at sourceware dot org" <libc-alpha at sourceware dot org>
- Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 09:49:19 -0700
- Subject: Re: Problems with evolving feature test macros?
- Authentication-results: sourceware.org; auth=none
- References: <CAKgNAki3SzAN8rZjvMQxbqDkpRGBzsmNGBKMJ0DDcMAG0nG8gQ at mail dot gmail dot com> <531F34C8 dot 9000500 at cs dot ucla dot edu> <CAKgNAkj5Bn8oSEPcpoiw6HnoE6hoNkHP6VAZBt2h5z4UPDAeDA at mail dot gmail dot com>
On 03/11/2014 09:33 AM, Michael Kerrisk (man-pages) wrote:
That weakens the whole idea of having a
range FTMs (as opposed to just _GNU_SOURCE, say), it seems to me.
Exactly. Those fancy feature-test macros are typically more trouble
than they're worth. They're mainly of interest to standards nerds, not
developers.
I have no specific examples to cite.
Likewise for most developers of portable software, which is why this is
a non-issue for them. Feature-test macros don't suffice for portable
software, and typically aren't even helpful; they mostly just get in the
way..