Re: [fluid-dev] Re: cmake variables cannot be turned on/off

[Ebrahim Mayat]

On Nov 10, 2010, at 9:08 PM, David Henningsson wrote:

> May I kindly ask you to bring the issue of CMake's packaging issues  
> in Fink, to the fink list instead of the fluidsynth list? It seems  
> more likely to reach the right people.

> IMHO, CMake has done some things better than autotools [1], and for  
> me as FluidSynth developer, the switch of build system has been a  
> step in the right direction.
> I do recognise that this has meant additional work for distributions/ 
> packagers, who already had a working infrastructure and had to  
> change to adapt. So I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all  
> people - which obviously includes both of you - who have struggled,  
> sometimes in frustration, to make the new build system work in  
> various environments. Thank you! Your efforts are highly appreciated.
>
> // David
>
> [1] This includes e g out-of-source builds, src/fluidsynth is the  
> binary instead of a strange script (which makes runs under gdb  
> easier), and percentage meter when building.

Hello David

Yes, in addition to the point [1] you made above, cmake builds are  
also quicker than the corresponding autotools ones. Cmake is also  
great as a cross-platform makefile generator.
That said, if there are issues with it, it is only normal that I  
report any problems and bugs. In the past, I have brought to the  
attention of numerous FluidSynth developers (Peter, Josh
and yourself) problems and bugs that I have come across in FluidSynth.  
None of you three have taken my reports and criticisms personally and  
to your credit have addressed my concerns for the eventual delivery of  
a good quality product. Thank you for that and let us carry on in the  
same spirit.

I have previously worked successfully with cmake on another open- 
source project. As a matter of fact, three and a half years ago, Pedro  
(Lopez-Cabanillas) himself contacted me in a private capacity (i.e. he  
wrote to me off-list) asking for details as to how I made the  
compilation of rosegarden work on OS X using cmake and I was glad to  
share my information with him.

        
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.audio.rosegarden.user/6209/match=screenshot

The perception that "fink is hostile to cmake" is, to say the least,  
simply not true. In fact, barely two months ago to name just one  
example, there was a significant contribution from fink:

        http://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/fluid-dev/2010-09/msg00049.html

The expression of frustration as to making cmake work is in no way  
personal. Cmake is a build system not a person. It is important that  
(dare I say) Pedro takes some distance from his work, not take any  
criticisms personally and address issues reported by myself (including  
the cmake ones) that are reported with regards to FluidSynth.

The other important thing to note here is that despite nagging  
problems, Daniel and I have made cmake work for version 1.1.3 on Snow  
Leopard and I would appreciate it if Pedro recognizes this and all the  
other contributions made to the FluidSynth project by various members  
(myself included) of fink.

Coming back to the origin of this thread, the issue at present is that  
neither of the command-line invocations shown below work:

$ cmake ..  -DENABLE_PORTAUDIO:BOOL=ON -DENABLE_FRAMEWORK:BOOL=OFF

$ cmake ..  -Denable_portaudio=ON -Denable_framework=OFF

I have devised a fix for this by patching the CMakeList.txt file in  
the top-level directory. This patch can be applied on an ad hoc need- 
to-do basis or it can be applied directly to svn. Either way, it works  
for me.

Best wishes,
Ebrahim

cmake.patch
Description: Binary data