[M3devel] FW: HEADS UP: cm3.cfg locations, was: Re: problems with cm3.cfg and MxConfig

[Jay K]

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> From: jay.krell at cornell.edu
> To: hendrik at topoi.pooq.com; m3devel at elegosoft.com
> Subject: RE: [M3devel] HEADS UP: cm3.cfg locations, was: Re: problems with cm3.cfg and MxConfig
> Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 23:42:12 +0000
>
>
>> That is exactly the mad scientist whill want when he's tinkering with
>> deviant Modula 3 compilers. But it's not what the average user will
>> want. And it's not what the mad compiler tinkerer will want when he's
>> just compiling ordinary programs. So let an environment variable
>> override whatever else would be used to find the configuration file.
>> And leave it undefined for the average user.
>
>
> I have been a proponent of what you say.
> And I have tried to achieve it.
>
>
> However it is not clear if I got there.
>
>
> The system-wide library paths, one example,
> are what the "(mad) Linux tinkerer" might
> alter, once and be done, not merely the
> "compiler tinkerer". There may be too many such people.
>
>
> Even for the mad tinkerer to have his own
> system-wide gcc might be common?
> Again, more of a "once and be done" mode,
> not often changing?
>
>
> The config files ultimately don't even that much.
> The previous authors did factor them fairly well.
> Just not /quite/ enough to my taste. :)
> I think primarly it was due to the times.
> There was more variety back then perhaps, and fewer
> cases of the same compiler (gcc) being on multiple
> systems or the same kernels being on multiple processors.
>
>
> For example, Solaris.common would not have made sense, there was just 32bit SPARC.
> For example, Linux.common would not have made sense, there was just x86.
> FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD all fairly young too.
>
>
> Ultimately I gather..and I haven't gotten here yet,
> but ultimately I think the tinkering escapes to chroot,
> whereupon from our point of view it ceases being tinkering.
> The contents of the files might change but the the names
> are restored to normal. :)
>
>
> As well though, the mad tinkerer is root?
> And is ok editing text files outside of /etc?
>
>
>
> - Jay