Re: Accounting for SHELL in ./configure

Do you mean here?

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype/-/tree/master/builds/unix

There is only 'configure.raw' there; its contents are indeed Autoconf, 
but its name is non-standard, that is probably why I missed it ;-).

The main point is that the 'configure' script at the top source 
directory is not generated by Autoconf; for someone who uses this 
'./configure' script, it would help to put 'SHELL=$SHELL' after the 
'$MAKE' at the end. My problem was solved with the GNUMAKE hack; this is 
only as a suggestion/feedback to help future users who need to a custom 
shell.

Thanks again for the prompt replies and for all the work on this 
important package :-).

Cheers,
Mohammad

On 5/2/24 12:46 AM, Behdad Esfahbod wrote:
> I know all that. :) Check out builds/unix/configure.ac
> behdad
> http://behdad.org/
> 
> 
> On Wed, May 1, 2024 at 4:40 PM Mohammad Akhlaghi <[email protected]>
> wrote:
> 
>> I had set the 'SHELL' environment variable but still '/bin/sh' was used.
>> The only way I could pass my SHELL to the Make command within the
>> configure script was through the non-standard hack I mentioned before:
>> GNUMAKE="make SHELL=$SHELL"
>>
>> Autoconf generates the './configure' script automatically though a
>> 'configure.ac' file. But I don't see any 'configure.ac' in FreeType's
>> source. For example here is the source code of a project that I maintain
>> which uses Autoconf:
>>
>> https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/gnuastro.git/tree
>>
>> The './configure' script is generated automatically from 'configure.ac'
>> when building the tarball (since the configure script is automatically
>> generated, we don't keep it under version control).
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Mohammad
>>
>> On 5/1/24 11:17 PM, Behdad Esfahbod wrote:
>>> Scratch that.
>>>
>>> Where is it exactly failing? On Unix, the build system is essentially
>>> autoconf, so it should respect SHELL as you suggest.
>>>
>>> behdad
>>> http://behdad.org/
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, May 1, 2024 at 3:15 PM Behdad Esfahbod <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Can you check if also setting CONFIG_SHELL helps?
>>>>
>>>> behdad
>>>> http://behdad.org/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, May 1, 2024 at 3:06 PM Mohammad Akhlaghi <[email protected]
>>>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The Autoconf-generated configure script, or even CMake, respect SHELL,
>> so
>>>>> if a user gives it a problematic shell, they won't be able to build
>>>>> anything abd many programs will crash.
>>>>>
>>>>> But please consider the scenario mentioned before: when a user doesn't
>>>>> have root permissions to change '/bin/sh', they are left with
>> non-standard
>>>>> hacks like what I did.
>>>>>
>>>>> When each program's build system respects 'SHELL', the user is free to
>>>>> use any shell they want with any program's build.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Mohammad
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On May 1, 2024 10:55:05 PM GMT+02:00, Behdad Esfahbod <
>> [email protected]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm not talking about the user overriding the shell specifically. I'm
>>>>>> talking about users who genuinely use a non-POSIX shell as their
>> terminal
>>>>>> shell. Then just running ./configure would fail if configure was to
>> respect
>>>>>> $SHELL.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Or rather you're saying that only POSIX-compatible shells should set
>>>>>> $SHELL.
>>>>>> behdad
>>>>>> http://behdad.org/
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Wed, May 1, 2024 at 2:45 PM Mohammad Akhlaghi <
>> [email protected]>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks Behdad,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The problem is that I do not have root permissions on the system with
>>>>>>> the faulty '/bin/sh': I cannot change '/bin/sh' and need to build my
>>>>>>> programs with a custom shell.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If the user specifies a wrong shell (not the default '/bin/sh'), it
>> is
>>>>>>> their own responsibility that it is POSIX-compatible. The same way
>> that a
>>>>>>> user can give a non-GNU Make executable to the GNUMAKE variable.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In short, when a user changes defaults, it is their resposibility,
>> not
>>>>>>> the developer's. So no need to worry about that; the important thing
>> is to
>>>>>>> give users the freedon to customize for their custom environments
>> (as GNU
>>>>>>> Autoconf does for example; but Autoconf is not used in FreeType).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>> Mohammad
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On May 1, 2024 10:25:54 PM GMT+02:00, Behdad Esfahbod <
>>>>>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There's no guarantee that the user's shell is sh-compatible.
>> autoconf
>>>>>>>> really means sh here, because that's the shell the script is
>> written for.
>>>>>>>> Just symlink your favorite shell to sh then, if it's compatible.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> behdad
>>>>>>>> http://behdad.org/
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Wed, May 1, 2024 at 2:13 PM Mohammad Akhlaghi <
>>>>>>>> [email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi again,
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I was able to find a cleaner hack by running this command before
>> the
>>>>>>>>> './configure' script:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> export GNUMAKE="make SHELL=$SHELL"
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Afterwards, FreeType successfully ran with my desired shell.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> But generally, it would greatly help those building FreeType from
>>>>>>>>> source
>>>>>>>>> if the configure script accounts for the 'SHELL' environment
>> variable.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Thanks a lot for all the nice work on FreeType,
>>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>>> Mohammad
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 5/1/24 9:00 PM, Mohammad Akhlaghi wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Dear Freetype developers,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I was trying to build FreeType from source and noticed that the
>>>>>>>>>> './configure' script does not account for the 'SHELL' environment
>>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>> will always use '/bin/sh'.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Looking at the source of the './configure' script, I was able to
>>>>>>>>> fix the
>>>>>>>>>> problem by manually adding a 'SHELL=$SHELL' in line 135 of the
>>>>>>>>>> './configure' script:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>> https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/freetype/freetype/-/blob/master/configure?ref_type=heads#L135
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Accounting for the user's given SHELL is common in many programs
>>>>>>>>> when
>>>>>>>>>> building from source, so it would be good if you could account for
>>>>>>>>> it in
>>>>>>>>>> future versions of FreeType also.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>>>>>> Mohammad
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>
>>
>