Re: RUN_PRECMD hook

[Roland Illig <roland.illig%gmx.de@localhost>]

Am 12.04.2026 um 16:01 schrieb Jonathan Perkin:
>    --- a/mk/misc/common.mk
>    +++ b/mk/misc/common.mk
>    @@ -10,0 +11,5 @@
>    +# RUN_PRECMD
>    +#      Commands that are placed at the end of the expanded ${RUN} and before
>    +#      the main body of commands.  This is a helpful place to insert e.g.
>    +#      'ulimit' to avoid hung processes causing builds to run indefinitely.
>    +#
>    @@ -30,0 +36 @@ PKG_DEBUG_LEVEL?=       0
>    +RUN_PRECMD?=           :
>    @@ -44 +50 @@ _PKG_DEBUG_SCRIPT=        ${SH} -x
>    -RUN=                   ${_PKG_SILENT}${_PKG_DEBUG} set -e;
>    +RUN=                   ${_PKG_SILENT}${_PKG_DEBUG} set -e; ${RUN_PRECMD};

If you go this route of allowing arbitrary commands, I'd prefer to name
the variable RUN_PRECMDS, so that it can be used like this:

#RUN_PRECMDS+=	echo cmd;
#RUN_PRECMDS+=	ulimit -S -t 3600;

This way, it is possible to quickly enable or disable commands as needed.

RUN=	${_PKG_SILENT}${_PKG_DEBUG} set -e; ${RUN_PRECMDS}
# (Without a semicolon at the end.)

This may be a nitpick, but since that variable is expanded many times,
the absent semicolon may make a difference. Not sure how long the shell
parser takes for parsing a single semicolon.

Pkglint can already handle both variants equally fine.

> Any better ideas?  Would a more specific LIMIT_RESOURCES feature that is 
> analogous to UNLIMIT_RESOURCES be more appropriate, or just too complex?

As long as you need only the ulimit case, I prefer to have a more
specific API that only allows ulimit changes. That way, its purpose will
be clear even five years later.

Roland