Re: fail to compile NetBSD current from Linux at second attempt

[Robert Elz <kre%munnari.OZ.AU@localhost>]

    Date:        Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:26:46 +0200
    From:        Ramiro Aceves <ea1abz%gmail.com@localhost>
    Message-ID:  <3ca9170f-df7d-4be1-b37b-bff34055ebc1%gmail.com@localhost>

  | I was reading The Guide and remembered what you wrote in the list
  | when reading the following:
  |
  |      32.4.3. Fetching the NetBSD-current development branch
  |
  |      To obtain the NetBSD-current source just omit “-r <BRANCH>” and
  |      replace it with “-A”:

I can kind of see where that is coming from, but

  |      $ cd /usr
  |      $ cvs checkout -A -P src

That's really just laughable, the -A there is harmless, also pointless.

A checkout is fetching a new module from the repository, there is no
existing state to reset, unless -r is given, what you're getting is
HEAD.   I wasn't even aware checkout had a -A option (it does, but the
only reason for that I can imagine is to be consistent with cvs update).

  |      To update your NetBSD-current source tree, add the -A flag:
  |
  |      $ cd /usr/src
  |      $ cvs update -A -dP

That's the safe advice to give, just in case the tree might have had some
other restriction (been on a branch before, or a specific date), but it is
only needed in those cases, to ensure you get up to date HEAD.   If what
is in the repo is (or was, when last updated) up to date HEAD, then
there's no need for the -A.

On the other hand, using -A in all those cases is harmless.

  | Then I believe that the sentence "To update your NetBSD-current source
  | tree, add the -A flag" is wrong cause if you are in NetBSD-current

Yes, but the "if" there is important, if you had been using netbsd-10
(or -11 or anything else) or if you'd fetched a specific date's HEAD
from the past, then the -A is needed.

  | Only "cvs update -dP" should be needed.

Usually, if you are maintaining HEAD, or any other branch, that's the
way to get the latest updates on the current branch, whatever that might
happen to be.   Including -A forces HEAD, whereas including "-r tag" forces
the branch "tag", omitting both (and -D which can be used to select a
specific date) just uses the same as you had before (except on checkout,
where there is no "before", and you get HEAD by default, with or without -A).

kre