[bug-inetutils] Re: inetutils ChangeLog README-alpha bootstrap.conf...

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   > Maybe a better wording could be used in README-alpha?  I just don't
   > understand why those instructions have to be in a seperate file.

   Maybe they don't have to, but that's not what I'm talking about.
   It is the file's purpose that's important, not its contents. The
   bootstrap script requires that $checkout_only_file points to a
   file that is present only in the repository. It is bootstrap's way to 
   ensure that it is executed in the source tree checked out from the
   repository. Only if that file is present does bootstrap 
   proceed (unless --force is used, but that's another story).

   Now, README-alpha may well be present in a distributed
   tarball. That happens for alpha versions (that's actually what that
   file serves for: it provides additional instructions for the users
   of alpha releases).  Using it as a checkout_only_file makes it
   possible to run bootstrap in a source tree extracted from the
   tarball, which should never be done.

   To summarize: the file checkout_only_file points to must reside
   only in the repository. Its contents does not matter. FWIW, it may
   even be emtpty.

Oh, I see now, I checked in the following:


2009-04-11  Alfred M. Szmidt  <address@hidden>
        
        * bootstrap.conf (checkout_only_file): Removed variable.
        * README-hacking: New file.