Re: -n option not working under selected circumstances

[Paul Smith]

On Thu, 2010-01-21 at 18:17 +0100, gabriele balducci wrote:
> t1 :
>       rm -f ./mom && touch ./mom && echo "$(MAKE)"
> 
> All works as if the `-n' option is not honored when the variable
> $(MAKE) (and apparently only that) is referenced in a target's shell
> line:
> 
> make -n t1     will create ./mom (while it should not)

This is not a bug in make, per se, it's an error in the makefile.  This
behavior is documented in the manual, where it says:

           The `-n', `-t', and `-q' options do not affect command lines
        that
        begin with `+' characters or contain the strings `$(MAKE)' or
        `${MAKE}'.  Note that only the line containing the `+' character
        or the strings `$(MAKE)' or `${MAKE}' is run regardless of these
        options.

The makefile needs to not use the MAKE variable in a context where it
would do bad things given -n.