Licencing issues (Was: Re: posix standards? $(CURDIR) or $$PWD or $(shell pwd)?)

[gk]

Paul,
Thanks for the very informative help.

I really need an include directive so I will forget about POSIX or else 
write my own include wrapper.

I am writing an IDE 'wrapper'/automake' environment that depends on make.
I have looked at Ant and don't like it. I like Gnu make, but...
One of my concerns is licensing:
If my product uses Gnu-make-specific features in its Makefiles will it be 
considered 'derivative' and bound by the GPL?

I have not decided on how to license my product but until I do, I don't 
want to design it to end up being locked into a GPL.
Thanks,
Greg Keraunen <address@hidden>

At 04:18 PM 10/11/2002 -0400, Paul D. Smith wrote:
> %% gk <address@hidden> writes:
>
>   g> I am trying to write makefiles that are least dependent on a
>   g> particular make.  The Gnu make manual says:
>
> Let me prefix this message by saying that what you want to do is going
> to be very frustrating, and you should only proceed if you have _VERY_
> strong reasons you _MUST_ do this, such as external requirements.  The
> POSIX definition of make is very anemic: it's so undemanding that it
> doesn't even provide for an "include" feature, much less many other more
> powerful capabilities.
>
> It's far, far better for your sanity to forego the idea of writing
> portable makefiles, and use a portable _make program_ instead.  GNU make