GNU bug report logs - #79385
build: don't force specific warning options on gnulib code

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Bruno Haible <bruno <at> clisp.org>
To: bug-grep <at> gnu.org
Subject: build: don't force specific warning options on gnulib code
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2025 01:25:11 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hi,

On 2020-11-26, gnulib-tests/Makefile.am was modified, so as to append
'-Werror' to the AM_CFLAGS, thus forcing the warning options chosen by
the GNU grep maintainer(s) on the GNU gnulib test code.

Meanwhile, it was mentioned several times on the Gnulib mailing list that
this is unsupported. E.g.
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnulib/2023-08/msg00145.html

Still, in some circumstances, the current state of grep's
gnulib-tests/Makefile.am forces errors for warnings that the GNU grep
maintainer(s) are picky about and the GNU gnulib maintainers allow.

Please apply this patch, to respect the code ownership of Gnulib.

Thanks.

[0001-build-Respect-gnulib-code-ownership.patch (text/x-patch, attachment)]

Message #8 received at 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Bruno Haible <bruno <at> clisp.org>, 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79385: build: don't force specific warning options on gnulib
 code
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2025 18:01:38 -0700

On 2025-09-03 16:25, Bruno Haible via Bug reports for GNU grep wrote:
> Still, in some circumstances, the current state of grep's
> gnulib-tests/Makefile.am forces errors for warnings

What circumstances are these? For grep we don't recommend 
--enable-gcc-warnings unless you know what you're doing.

In the past I've preferred stricter warnings even for Gnulib, to help 
maintain the Gnulib stuff that I maintain.

Message #11 received at 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Bruno Haible <bruno <at> clisp.org>
To: 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
Subject: Re: bug#79385: build: don't force specific warning options on gnulib
 code
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2025 03:38:05 +0200

Paul Eggert wrote:
> > Still, in some circumstances, the current state of grep's
> > gnulib-tests/Makefile.am forces errors for warnings
> 
> What circumstances are these?

As detailed in
<https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnulib/2025-09/msg00033.html>:

  $ ./configure --enable-gcc-warnings
  $ make CFLAGS='-g -O2' V=1

> For grep we don't recommend 
> --enable-gcc-warnings unless you know what you're doing.

Still, --enable-gcc-warnings is enabled by default, in certain situations,
through grep/configure.ac lines 107..111. I won't argue about that; that's
entirely your choice which GCC warnings to apply to your package.

I won't argue about "make CFLAGS='-g -O2'" either; that's part of the
freedom that a user has when building a package; see also
https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/html_node/User-Variables.html

What I'm opposed to is that these users then get a failing build, with
an "error" claimed by gcc or clang, and report it as a gnulib "bug",
just like it happened two days ago
<https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnulib/2025-09/msg00018.html>
and numerous times before.

> In the past I've preferred stricter warnings even for Gnulib, to help 
> maintain the Gnulib stuff that I maintain.

That's OK because this happens on the bug-gnulib mailing list, and because
you are listening when I happen to say "this warning option is silly, I
don't want to hear about this type of warning in code that I maintain.

Whereas the grep/gnulib-tests/Makefile.am is doing a different thing:
here the grep maintainer chooses warning options for code in gnulib/tests/
(including code that they don't maintain) and adds '-Werror', thereby
triggering "bug" reports to bug-gnulib.

My proposed patch has the purpose to stop this. I respect the warning
options the grep maintainer chooses for code that they maintain; and I
want the grep maintainer to respect the warning options that I choose
for code that I maintain.

Bruno

Message #14 received at 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Collin Funk <collin.funk1 <at> gmail.com>
To: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
Cc: Bruno Haible <bruno <at> clisp.org>, 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79385: build: don't force specific warning options on
 gnulib code
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2025 18:44:17 -0700

Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu> writes:

> On 2025-09-03 16:25, Bruno Haible via Bug reports for GNU grep wrote:
>> Still, in some circumstances, the current state of grep's
>> gnulib-tests/Makefile.am forces errors for warnings
>
> What circumstances are these? For grep we don't recommend
> --enable-gcc-warnings unless you know what you're doing.
>
> In the past I've preferred stricter warnings even for Gnulib, to help
> maintain the Gnulib stuff that I maintain.

If grep is the same as coreutils, then it is --enable-gcc-warnings is
enabled by default when there is a .git subdirectory.

Also, this patch makes things look similar to coreutils:

    $ head -n 3 coreutils/gnulib-tests/Makefile.am 
    AM_CFLAGS = $(GNULIB_TEST_WARN_CFLAGS) $(WERROR_CFLAGS)
    
    include gnulib.mk

Collin

Message #17 received at 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Bruno Haible <bruno <at> clisp.org>
Cc: 79385 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#79385: build: don't force specific warning options on gnulib
 code
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2025 20:26:57 -0700

On 2025-09-03 18:38, Bruno Haible wrote:
>> What circumstances are these?
> As detailed in
> <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-gnulib/2025-09/msg00033.html>:
> 
>    $ ./configure --enable-gcc-warnings
>    $ make CFLAGS='-g -O2' V=1

But that bug report is about vma-iter, which grep doesn't use.

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