# HG changeset patch # User Paul Eggert # Date 1358281302 28800 # Node ID e1bf1347de5300fd0799aa474afe921b357ac051 # Parent 7e79b824e22935c2239c8f45c86a26667980c7b7 doc: clarify -Werror * doc/warnings.texi (warnings): -Werror is not always a bad idea; clarify that it's intended for developers, not for ordinary builds, and mention --enable-gcc-warnings as one possible use. diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog --- a/ChangeLog +++ b/ChangeLog @@ -1,3 +1,10 @@ +2013-01-15 Paul Eggert + + doc: clarify -Werror + * doc/warnings.texi (warnings): -Werror is not always a bad idea; + clarify that it's intended for developers, not for ordinary builds, + and mention --enable-gcc-warnings as one possible use. + 2013-01-15 Andoni Morales Alastruey (tiny change) stdint: fix build with Android's Bionic fox x86 diff --git a/doc/warnings.texi b/doc/warnings.texi --- a/doc/warnings.texi +++ b/doc/warnings.texi @@ -21,10 +21,15 @@ different directories. @item -It allows to use @samp{-Werror} at @samp{make distcheck} time, to verify +It lets you use @samp{-Werror} at @samp{make distcheck} time, to verify that on the maintainer's system, no warnings remain. (Note that use of @samp{-Werror} in @code{CFLAGS} does not work in general, because it may break autoconfiguration.) + +@item +Similarly, it lets you use @samp{-Werror} when the builder runs +@command{configure} with an option such as +@option{--enable-gcc-warnings}. @end itemize To use this module, you need the following: @@ -49,10 +54,12 @@ the user to provide @code{CFLAGS} that override the @code{WARN_CFLAGS}. @end enumerate -Note that it is a bad idea to use @samp{gl_WARN_ADD([-Werror])}. The +@samp{gl_WARN_ADD([-Werror])} is intended for developers, and should be +avoided in contexts where it would affect ordinary installation builds. The warnings emitted by GCC depend, to some extent, on the contents of the system header files, on the size and signedness of built-in types, etc. Use of @samp{-Werror} would cause frustration to all users on platforms that the maintainer has not tested before the release. It is better if -maintainers use @samp{-Werror} only for themselves (for example, during -@samp{make distcheck}, as mentioned above). +@samp{-Werror} is off by default, and is enabled only by developers. +For example, @samp{-Werror} could affect @samp{make distcheck} or +@samp{configure --enable-gcc-warnings} as mentioned above.