Re: reconfigure question.

Also to pipe in.  Newlib maintainers regenerate such generated files before
checking in a patch.  This is because while it is easy to see a change in
the configuration file inputs,
it can be difficult to correlate that to changes in the generated files.
We want to ensure that the generated file matches the changes to the input
files so no errors
are introduced, intentionally or not.  We generally ask that users submit a
patch without the generated files.

In addition, we also keep the version of autotools consistent from patch to
patch so changes are smaller and a little easier to view when diffed.

-- Jeff J.

On Sun, Jul 27, 2025 at 6:06 AM R. Diez via Newlib <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
> > If I do autoreconf on a clean newlib repo, it will generate configure
> files that differ quite a lot from the ones that are committed.
> > Is that expected?
> >
> > My problem is that if I make a change to any configure.ac file, and do
> a reconfigure, then the patch I want to submit will include changes that I
> have not made...
> >
> > Sorry for stupid questions, but I'd rather ask a stupid question than
> submit a patch that will give you guys uneccessary work.
>
> It is not a stupid question. The main problem is that it is bad practice
> to check into the source code repository autotools-generated files.
>
> Such files permanently cause head scratching among occasional Newlib
> developers, which is bad enough. Depending on the autotools version you
> have, the files may look different.
>
> The confusion has even led some guys to manually change the generated
> files and not the autotools files which generate them.
>
> Because many unrelated files are flagged as "changed", many people hide
> them when working in Newlib, and then seasoned developers too forget every
> now and then to update the generated files, breaking the build for
> everybody else.
>
> This issue has been discussed in this mailing list in the past.
>
> Regards,
>    rdiez
>
>