Re: About the Makefile target "check"

[Mathieu Lirzin]

Xue Fuqiao <address@hidden> writes:

> Hi,
>
> In a recent discussion of emacs-devel, Phillip Lord suggested[1] renaming
> "make check" to "make test" since it's more intuitive.  Several other
> Emacs hackers agree with him[2][3].

I don't see what is more intuitive.  In my experience the “check”
convention is well known by the community.  Adding a “test” alternative
or alias to it is just unnecessary choice that would lead to confusing
documentation.  Installation instructions have nothing to do with
“intuitivity”, you have to learn them then it becomes an habit nothing
more.  In GNU packages these instructions are supposed to be documented
in the “INSTALL” file, and ‘make check’ is a part of these instructions.

IMO it would be better to solve the problem by including the standard
“INSTALL” file from Gnulib in the Emacs repository, and add Emacs
specific instructions in the README file.

--
Mathieu Lirzin