Re: [Help-glpk] Help-glpk] [Fwd: CMAKE build environment (and version control)]

[Alpar Juttner]

On Mon, 2010-12-13 at 05:13 +0100, glpk xypron wrote: 
> CMake offers the chance to use the same build files for both Windows
>  and Posix systems. It can generate Visual Studio projects.
> 
> CMake is used by some well known projects like KDE.
> http://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tutorials/CMake
> 
> CMake might not be available for all Posix systems for which the GNU
>  autotools are available.

I do not consider availability a real problem as CMAKE is easy to port
to any posix system. However, CMAKE applies a bit different philosophy
compared to autotools. 
      * Using autotool the standard shell (plus 'make' plus a compiler)
        is enough to build a release. You don't need the build system
        itself. Its essential components are shipped with the release.
        It - in theory - results in less build time dependency on a
        posix system but make it impossible to use on non-posix ones.
        The other downside is that the developments need a _specific
        version_ of the full toolchain (autoconf, automake, libtool...,
        and different versions may be incompatible) and you must learn a
        different syntax for all of them. Finally, I find it quite
        irritating that there is no clear separation of the source and
        the generated files. The release tarball is full of obscure
        generated files, sometimes it is not even clean that a file is
        simply generated or it is fine tuned later. 
      * With CMAKE, 'cmake' is necessary to compile and install the code
        (it will create the Makefile or e.g. the solution/project files
        for VS). But it is also sufficient for development. A single
        tool with a single config file format. The source and the
        generated files are clearly separated, if you do external build
        (which is highly recommended), then the source tree will be
        intact during the build process.

> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#GPLIncompatibleLicenses
>  mentions that BSD style licenses with an “obnoxious BSD advertising
>  clause” are incompatible with the GPL license.
> 
> The CMake license contains such an advertising clause.
>  
> http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/c/cmake/cmake_2.8.2-2/cmake.copyright
> 
> Hence I am not sure if you would use CMake as the only build system for a GNU 
> project.

I don't think it's a valid concern. GLPK does not want to develop a
software with this kind of license (which is indeen discouraged), but
simply use a software under this license. The webpage above explicitly
adds that

        "[...] However, there is no reason not to use programs that have
        been released under the original BSD license."

Regards,
Alpar