Re: ``install -C'' / unnecessarily updating time stamps

[Paul Eggert]

Thomas Schwinge <address@hidden> writes:

> This brings up the following question: if `-C' shall be used a) by
> default in Autoconf's `AC_PROG_INSTALL' if available or b) if requested
> by the programmer through setting some flag, and `install-sh' supports
> `-C', but the system's `install' executable doesn't (which will, as far
> as I can tell, be the case on most systems as after this quoted patch has
> been applied to `install-sh'), which of the two installation programs
> shall be chosen: the native `install' for speed or `install-sh' for
> feature completeness and to accommodate the programmer's request?

Right now, the native install.

The long-term goal will be to support -C everywhere, but right now the
only short-term goal is for install-sh to support -C.  One step at a time.

Once coreutils install supports -C, I think AC_PROG_INSTALL should
prefer -C, but that's a later patch.