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reword documentation about symbol stripping (was: default -g ??!?)


From: Ralf Wildenhues
Subject: reword documentation about symbol stripping (was: default -g ??!?)
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:44:10 +0100
User-agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15)

[ adding bug-standards; this thread is from
  http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/automake/2010-11/msg00114.html ]

* MK wrote on Sun, Nov 21, 2010 at 04:47:48PM CET:
> On Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:07:31 +0900 Miles Bader wrote:
> > 
> > Indeed, it's often a good idea to do the research _before_ posting
> > flames and rants...
> 
> Yes.  On the other hand, in my defence, GNU's online docs for make:
> 
> http://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/make.html
> 
> which I sited earlier after searching for "debugging symbols", do not
> make a mature attempt to explain the issue at all and instead just use
> inflammatory phrases like "Users who don't mind being helpless can
> strip the executables later if they wish," and "Devil-may-care users
> can use the install-strip target to do that".  No further
> explanation.  Is this how I'm supposed to learn about Coding
> Standards?  Via jokes and threats of some inexplicable bogey-man?

Oh well.  This thread has been so noisy and unproductive, maybe we
should seize the opportunity to take a bit of good away from it.

Karl, what do you think about this rewording (against the gnulib copy
of make-stds.texi) that makes the text slightly less subjective and
slightly less tongue-in-cheek?

May we have a real name please to credit in the ChangeLog entry?

Thanks,
Ralf

2010-11-21  Ralf Wildenhues  <address@hidden>

        * doc/make-stds.texi (Standard Targets): Reword recommendations
        about debug symbols and stripping executables.
        Suggested by MK <address@hidden>.

diff --git a/doc/make-stds.texi b/doc/make-stds.texi
index 6c83b5d..61e90b6 100644
--- a/doc/make-stds.texi
+++ b/doc/make-stds.texi
@@ -715,8 +715,8 @@ documentation format) files should be made only when 
explicitly asked
 for.
 
 By default, the Make rules should compile and link with @samp{-g}, so
-that executable programs have debugging symbols.  Users who don't mind
-being helpless can strip the executables later if they wish.
+that executable programs have debugging symbols.  Executables can be
+stripped later if necessary.
 
 @item install
 Compile the program and copy the executables, libraries, and so on to
@@ -724,8 +724,11 @@ the file names where they should reside for actual use.  
If there is a
 simple test to verify that a program is properly installed, this target
 should run that test.
 
-Do not strip executables when installing them.  Devil-may-care users can
-use the @code{install-strip} target to do that.
+Do not strip executables when installing them.  This helps eventual
+debugging that may be needed later, and nowadays disk space is cheap
+and dynamic loaders typically ensure debug sections are not loaded during
+normal execution.  Users that need stripped binaries may invoke the
address@hidden target to do that.
 
 If possible, write the @code{install} target rule so that it does not
 modify anything in the directory where the program was built, provided



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