Re: [dpdk-dev] [RFC PATCH] replace DPDK config and build system

["Morten Brørup" <mb@smartsharesystems.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: dev [mailto:dev-bounces@dpdk.org] On Behalf Of Bruce Richardson
> Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 3:41 PM
> To: Morten Brørup
> Cc: Wiles, Keith; Christian Ehrhardt; Stephen Hemminger; dev
> Subject: Re: [dpdk-dev] [RFC PATCH] replace DPDK config and build
> system
> 
> On Tue, Jun 20, 2017 at 03:34:58PM +0200, Morten Brørup wrote:
> > FYI: We are using Crosstool-NG (http://crosstool-ng.github.io/). It
> seems to be quite popular for cross compiling.
> >
> 
> How does a tool like that interact with build-systems then - either
> with our current one, or with a hypothetical future one using
> meson+ninja as below? Does it simplify what needs to be provided in the
> build config tool?
> 
> /Bruce

The main purpose of our build-system is to be able to just type "make" to build everything in our project (including the cross compiler itself). The purpose is not to simplify the build config tool for each of the libraries and executables in our project.

Please note that standardization is a benefit in itself! If every 3rd party library and executable in a complex project like ours had completely different build-systems, it would be a nightmare for us to maintain our project.

And to answer your question: Basically when using cross-tools, we set up a bunch of environment variables and then call the Makefile of each library and executable in the project (to configure and/or compile them). These environment variables are somewhat standardized, so modifying a Makefile for a 3rd party library/executable that is not designed for cross compiling is only a minor pain, not a major pain. I haven't looked at meson+ninja, but from reading the discussion here, it seems somewhat similar.

If DPDK switches to meson+ninja we will make it work for us too, so I'm not opposing such a change. I only wanted to highlight that Crosstool-NG is a very popular cross compiling environment, and has a good track record in this area.


Med venlig hilsen / kind regards
- Morten Brørup