Re: pkg/56936: posix_openpt(O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY) fails when configuring pkgsrc/x11/mlterm

[David Holland <dholland-pbugs%netbsd.org@localhost>]

The following reply was made to PR pkg/56936; it has been noted by GNATS.

From: David Holland <dholland-pbugs%netbsd.org@localhost>
To: gnats-bugs%netbsd.org@localhost
Cc: 
Subject: Re: pkg/56936: posix_openpt(O_RDWR | O_NOCTTY) fails when
 configuring pkgsrc/x11/mlterm
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2022 22:45:05 +0000

 On Tue, Sep 06, 2022 at 10:30:03PM +0000, David H. Gutteridge wrote:
  >  The cause of the issue is that the package uses AC_RUN_IFELSE to check
  >  if the posix_openpt(3) call *succeeds at runtime[1]*, not just if it
  >  compiles and links. If the build environment is sandboxed, then the
  >  call to open /dev/ptmx will fail, and the package will fall back to the
  >  old "bsd" implementation instead.
 
 Ugh.
 
 On the one hand, it's good for configure tests to check that things
 actually work, because sometimes they don't. On the other hand, it's
 annoying in cases like this.
 
  >  The fix would be to remove the runtime check in the configure script,
  >  if we want it reliably building in official (presumably sandboxed)
  >  builds. I've had to do that in the past for other packages that did
  >  something similar.
 
 CONFIGURE_ENV+=ac_cv_mumble=yes if NetBSD is the most expedient way.
 
 Problem is, I suspect even now not everyone uses ptyfs.
 
 What does it fall back to? openpty(3) ought to work correctly whether
 or not ptyfs is present. (And why doesn't posix_openpt?)
 
 -- 
 David A. Holland
 dholland%netbsd.org@localhost