configure cannot build out-of-tree

[mirabilos]

mkdir build
cd build
../mrsh/configure

… fails with…

Unable to specify exported symbols (is Linux supported?)

Trying to debug the hard-to-debug (comparatively) script, it turns out it expects the libmrsh.gnu.sym file in the cwd.

[emersion]

Even if the configure script worked, make would fail (because the Makefile is still in the source tree, it doesn't get copied over). Are out-of-tree builds something that is in general supported by make-based build systems?

[mirabilos]

Yes, e.g. GNU autoconf copies the Makefile (with substitutions) and everything else needed, and in general just points to the source directory.

[emersion]

I'm not talking about autotools, I'm talking about other software using raw Makefiles like we do.

[mirabilos]

Simon Ser dixit:

I'm not talking about autotools, I'm talking about other software using raw Makefiles like we do.

It’s not about the Makefile, it’s about the configure script.