[uClibc]Re: annoying warning message

Miles Bader miles at lsi.nec.co.jp
Thu Feb 21 09:01:27 UTC 2002


mjn3 at codepoet.org (Manuel Novoa III) writes:
> That's because the remapping to a nonexistent *64() function, which
> you were counting on to generate an error, _no_longer_takes_place_!
> So the program will fail mysteriously when trying to handle a file
> larger than 2GB...

Look, I know all that.

> The whole point of the warning generated was to let the user know that
> large files weren't supported.  That doesn't just mean that the *64()
> funcs aren't supported... which you apparently mistakenly believe.

No, I don't `mistakenly believe' that (I don't believe that at all).

_GNU_SOURCE's main purpose is to enable _interface changes_ that wouldn't
otherwise be enabled because of incompatibilities with standards, then
_interface differences_ are the most important thing.  This is why I
consider the non-definition of the xxx64 interfaces the most serious
repercussion of _GNU_SOURCE mixed with DO_LFS=false.

It's quite reasonable for macros with a _specific_ meaning
(e.g. _LARGEFILE_SOURCE) to emit a warning/error if something is broken,
but the situation is a lot different for _GNU_SOURCE, because it's a
`catch-all' macro, that defines the kitchen sink.  People turn it on for
all sorts of reasons, and you have to be practical about how you interpret
it.

The bottom line is that your change is going to result in tons of warning
messages for _lots_ of programs, which are completely pointless 99.999% of
the time, and which have no way of being turned off.  It may strike you as
being a great and useful thing, but it's going to simply annoy most
people.

> Finally, if you want to continue this thread, please read and _understand_
> what is going on in features.h and stdio.h before you reply.  That would
> save _me_ some time... and annoyance.

Oh, please quit with the stupid petty insults; I understand very clearly
what's going on.

-Miles
-- 
Come now, if we were really planning to harm you, would we be waiting here, 
 beside the path, in the very darkest part of the forest?



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