diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | make-stds.texi | 39 |
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 11 deletions
diff --git a/make-stds.texi b/make-stds.texi index 12d5cb9..887b7ad 100644 --- a/make-stds.texi +++ b/make-stds.texi @@ -236,17 +236,34 @@ normally don't want to recompile. For example, the @samp{mostlyclean} target for GCC does not delete @file{libgcc.a}, because recompiling it is rarely necessary and takes a lot of time. -@item realclean -Delete everything from the current directory that can be reconstructed -with this Makefile. This typically includes everything deleted by -@code{distclean}, plus more: C source files produced by Bison, tags tables, -Info files, and so on. - -One exception, however: @samp{make realclean} should not delete -@file{configure} even if @file{configure} can be remade using a rule in -the Makefile. More generally, @samp{make realclean} should not delete -anything that needs to exist in order to run @file{configure} -and then begin to build the program. +@item maintainer-clean +Delete almost everything from the current directory that can be +reconstructed with this Makefile. This typically includes everything +deleted by @code{distclean}, plus more: C source files produced by +Bison, tags tables, Info files, and so on. + +The reason we say ``almost everything'' is that @samp{make +maintainer-clean} should not delete @file{configure} even if +@file{configure} can be remade using a rule in the Makefile. More +generally, @samp{make maintainer-clean} should not delete anything that +needs to exist in order to run @file{configure} and then begin to build +the program. This is the only exception; @code{maintainer-clean} should +delete everything else that can be rebuilt. + +The @samp{maintainer-clean} is intended to be used by a maintainer of +the package, not by ordinary users. You may need special tools to +reconstruct some of the files that @samp{make maintainer-clean} deletes. +Since these files are normally included in the distribution, we don't +take care to make them easy to reconstruct. If you find you need to +unpack the full distribution again, don't blame us. + +To help make users aware of this, the commands for +@code{maintainer-clean} should start with these two: + +@example +@@echo "This command is intended for maintainers to use;" +@@echo "it deletes files that may require special tools to rebuild." +@end example @item TAGS Update a tags table for this program. |