Re: [gnu-prog-discuss] Could automake-generated Makefiles required GNU make?

[Warren Young]

On 11/23/2011 8:08 AM, Bob Friesenhahn wrote:
> Beyond that, it mostly comes down to this simple question: "What do I
> type in order to invoke GNU make on this system"?

No, that's easily wrapped.  Aautoconf can write out both a GNUmakefile 
and a Makefile.

When both are present, GNU make will read GNUmakefile unless forced to 
do otherwise via -f.  So, it will contain the actual build instructions.

The generated Makefile is just a compatibility wrapper, to sit across 
the many paths whereby a non-GNU make could be run instead.  Basically, 
it looks like this:

    all clean install [more targets]:
        gmake $@

The name 'gmake' is detected by autoconf, in the same sort of way it 
currently figures out what your C compiler is called.