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Message-ID: <17476.21300.788545.213068@lemming.engeast.baynetworks.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2006 22:47:16 -0400
To: gustav <gustav AT indiana DOT edu>
Cc: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: Re: csh and/or GNU make bug
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From: "Paul D. Smith" <psmith AT gnu DOT org>
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%% gustav <gustav AT indiana DOT edu> writes:

  g> There is a bug either in GNU make or in tcsh or in both---on
  g> Cygwin. The combination of csh and GNU make will hang if SHELL is
  g> declared as /bin/csh -f.

I don't know what is causing this particular issue.

However, I have to strongly recommend that no one should use csh, in any
form, as the value for SHELL in a makefile.

There are too many odd things about the way csh works that makes it
inappropriate for use with make.  Primarily the issues involve quoting
and multi-line scripting, but there are more subtle issues as well: for
example the jobserver feature (not available on the Windows port--yet)
does not work with csh, because csh has an annoying habit of closing
open file descriptors when it starts up.


Really, csh is just broken--and for makefiles even moreso.

My HO, of course :-).

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Paul D. Smith <psmith AT gnu DOT org>          Find some GNU make tips at:
 http://www.gnu.org                      http://make.paulandlesley.org
 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist

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