id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	priority	milestone	component	version	resolution	keywords	cc	launchpad_bug
214	"makefiles which require GNU make should be named ""GNUmakefile"""	zooko	warner	"If a makefile is named ""Makefile"" then this indicates to some people that it is written in the POSIX-standard ""make"" language.  If it is instead written in the GNU make language then it should be named ""GNUmakefile"" so that people know not to try to evaluate it using their non-GNU make tool.

Solaris admins find it irritating to be given a makefile which claims to be compatible with their default make tool but isn't.  It smacks of that sort of ""pushiness"" that is unfortunately common in software development -- something like ""We disapprove of people using tools other than ours, so we're going to silently add our extensions into code so that people eventually get tired of encountering our extensions unexpectedly and everyone switches to using our tool exclusively."".

I know that this is really not what Brian meant -- Brian just meant that he is used to typing ""M""<TAB> when he means the makefile -- but I'm afraid it might still give the wrong impression to people who run afoul of it.

The reason I'm raising this issue again is that this morning I noticed another instance of a Solaris admin being irritated by a package which required GNU make but which wasn't documented as requiring GNU make in the README.  (This package was not Tahoe, though.)
"	defect	closed	trivial	eventually	packaging	0.7.0	fixed