[PATCH/RFC] newlib: update build system generation documentation

[Corinna Vinschen]

On Feb 23 22:20, Mike Frysinger wrote:
> On 23 Feb 2022 10:21, Corinna Vinschen wrote:
> > On Feb 17 00:52, Mike Frysinger wrote:
> > > --- a/newlib/README
> > > +++ b/newlib/README
> > > @@ -23,13 +23,18 @@ Unpacking and Installation -- quick overview
> > >  When you unpack the newlib-4.2.0.tar.gz file, you'll find a directory
> > >  called `newlib-4.2.0', which contains:
> > >  
> > > -COPYING          config/          install-sh*      mpw-configure
> > > -COPYING.LIB      config-ml.in     libgloss/        mpw-install
> > > -COPYING.NEWLIB   config.guess*    mkinstalldirs*   newlib/
> > > -CYGNUS           config.sub*      move-if-change*  symlink-tree*
> > > -ChangeLog        configure*       mpw-README       texinfo/
> > > -Makefile.in      configure.in     mpw-build.in
> > > -README           etc/             mpw-config.in
> > > +COPYING           README-maintainer-mode  include/        mkdep
> > > +COPYING.LIB       compile                 install-sh      mkinstalldirs
> > > +COPYING.LIBGLOSS  config/                 libgloss/       move-if-change
> > > +COPYING.NEWLIB    config-ml.in            libtool.m4      newlib/
> > > +COPYING3          config.guess            ltgcc.m4        setup.com
> > > +COPYING3.LIB      config.rpath            ltmain.sh       src-release
> > > +ChangeLog         config.sub              ltoptions.m4    symlink-tree
> > > +MAINTAINERS       configure               ltsugar.m4      texinfo/
> > > +Makefile.def      configure.ac            ltversion.m4    ylwrap
> > > +Makefile.in       depcomp                 lt~obsolete.m4
> > > +Makefile.tpl      djunpack.bat            makefile.vms
> > > +README            etc/                    missing
> > 
> > Seeing this, I wonder why we are documenting a list of top-level files,
> > most of which are of no further interest to the user anyway.  Maybe it
> > would make more sense to just mention a few of them, like, say,
> > "configure"?
> 
> i agree that i don't find much value in this, i was just maintaining what was
> already there.

I think this is so old that the expectation that people know how
to use autotools at all was low.

>   how about:
> 
> When you unpack the newlib-4.2.0.tar.gz file, you'll find a directory
> called `newlib-4.2.0', which contains many files.  Interesting ones:
>   COPYING*  - License files for the sources
>   README    - A common overview of all GNU development projects
>   configure - The build script for configuring the source tree
>   Makefile* - Inputs used by configure to generate the Makefile
>   libgloss/ - The libgloss project
>   newlib/   - The newlib project
> -mike

Yes, that sounds better, thanks!

A few extra words about cloning the git repo per
https://sourceware.org/newlib/download.html might be helpful, too.
Unpacking tar archives seems a bit old-fashioned these days.  


Corinna