> > You still have to install your .mk files in the canonical place, and
> > you need to install your includes in /usr/include, or the 'make build'
> > won't work.
> 
> Yes, unforuntately. After some enlightening chats with cgd, I'm
> kicking around ideas for changing the build process to fix this
> sort of thing. I'd like to have the entire system build into an
> object tree, using only the makefiles, includes, libs, etc. out of
> that object tree, so that you never have to do a `make install' of
> any kind until the very end. 

Yes. Oh, yes, please. 

With a few exceptions (such as having to install a new compiler to
compile new sources that depend on it) I would *dearly* love to see a
source tree that can be built as a standalone entity, in a
"development" tree by itself, without necessitating any changes at all
to the production system until you're ready to install.

This would be a big win in terms of elegance, convenience, and
"safety" - and would enhance NetBSD's image of professionalism.

> That way you could also do a `make build' without root privileges.

That also would be cool.

> We will *not* be allowed to use (any longer)
> 
> 	/usr/src/usr.sbin/config/obj
> 	/usr/src/usr.sbin/config/obj.sparc
> 	/usr/obj/usr.sbin/config.sparc
> 
> I don't know what people think of this. I don't see this as any
> loss myself.

I use obj.foo dirs at the moment, sometimes in an onion-fs layer above
the source tree, but wouldn't mourn their loss at all for a better
solution.

--
Dan.