Re: [Axiom-developer] RE: algebra Makefiles with explicitdependencies, bootstrap, fixed-points etc.

[root]

Steve, Bill,

I don't think we need to rush ahead with this task as it is much
more important to make sure it is right than it is to do it quickly.

I'd suggest that the "fixed-point" bootstrap be merged into 
axiom--algebra--1 so we can test it first. By test it I mean that
we have to compare, line by line, the output of the current input
files to see if anything breaks. There are also a set of known
broken input files (see src/input/Makefile.pamphlet) and we need
to see if this fixes any known problems there.

I don't believe that the build should modify the src/algebra/*.pamphlet
files automatically. The source directory is generally considered
read-only, hand-generated code. It might be the case that the build
system CHECKS to see if there is a difference between the bootstrap
files and the build files.

It is more important to understand the nature of the difference and
what causes it. These differences could be showing up at higher levels
but not apparent because we have not kept the generated .lsp files
from prior builds.

We certainly do not want to break the february build with such a 
fundamental change. The february build will be the first "real axiom"
version for most people and it is important that it run properly.
There are several hundred people at least looking at axiom (given
the download numbers) so we have a responsibility to make sure that
our changes are correct, complete, and necessary.

Tim