[fdo-internals] FDO RFC 21 - New Linux Buildsystem Cmake Based

[Frank Warmerdam]

Greg Boone wrote:
> As I see it, forcing our VS users to regenerate their project files from the
> CMake files is going to be a really tough sell. You can make it an option I
> suppose, but maintaining the VS 2008 project files is going to be a fairly
> important requirement from my perspective. However, in such a dual scenario
> I can see the CMake and VS files quickly getting out of sync.
> 
> I know that the current patches do not remove any existing files, but
> supporting two Linux build systems is not a practical solution. We will have
> to standardize on a single Linux build option in short order. In that light,
> who will guarantee that a full build, that includes FDO and all providers in
> SVN, be run in batch, without the need for any FDO/Thirdparty components to
> be installed?

Folks,

I pretty much agree with Greg on this.

First, there is no way we are going to support two distinct build systems on
linux.

Second, I still don't quite get what the advantage of cmake over what we have
on linux is.  What we have isn't all that nice, but it is at least conventional
so I feel like I can fix stuff when needed, compared to a whole new way of
doing things.

I'd be much more interested in cmake if we seriously planned to make it "the
build system" on linux and windows.

Also, with all due respect, I'm concerned that if Helio puts this into place,
and the rest of us are lost with regard to it, that Helio might lose interest
leaving us in a bit of a quandry.  This has occured, for instance, with the
"libtool integration" into the GDAL build system.  Someone kindly did it, but
then left the project, leaving the rest of us having to support it even when
we weren't that keen on it in the first place.

In reviewing the RFC again (http://trac.osgeo.org/fdo/wiki/FDORfc21) I don't
really see the connection between shifting to cmake, and breaking our
reliance on local ThirdParty builds.  Why can't we just change the existing
build system to more conveniently support use of external third party
libraries?

I'm basically -0 on RFC 21 as I understand it.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org