Don't know how to install documentation

[bos]

Following the changes to the build system that got merged in earlier this year, it's no longer obvious (or documented, as far as I can tell) how to either build or install documentation.

The procedure that used to work for 6.10 was make install-docs, but the Makefiles in the docs and docs/man directories have bit-rotted, and the install-docs target has vanished from the top-level Makefile too.

If I knew how to build the documentation, I'd send in a patch, as I think it's important that this be fixed before 6.12.1 goes final, so that platform packagers like myself can figure out how to easily build and install the documentation. Unfortunately, I'm not even sure what needs fixing in the new build world.

[simonmar]

The short answer is that docs get built and installed automatically now. The longer answer follows...

There's a section of the wiki about building documentation: Building/Docs. It was a bit thin, so I've just expanded it to include some of the information you noted was lacking. Please take a look and let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see there.

We lost the install-docs target in the transition to the new build system. It's not hard to add it back, I've just done that and I'll push the patch shortly. However, docs still get built and installed by default; is that a problem for you?

[bos]

Thanks, Simon!

It's actually just fine that docs get built and installed by default, so no worries there.

The last remaining piece of the puzzle is that the man page doesn't seem to get built any more either, at least not as of the current HEAD that I have locally (which I just pulled).

[igloo]

I'd have thought an install-docs target (which actually installs the docs) would cause more problems than it solves. I think everyone who's asked about it is a packager, because they have build scripts that expect install to install one set of things, and install-docs to install another set.

Wouldn't we be better off with an install-docs target that just prints a message explaining the change in behaviour and then fails?

[simonmar]

Replying to igloo:

Wouldn't we be better off with an install-docs target that just prints a message explaining the change in behaviour and then fails?

Good point - I'll do that.

[bos]

That would certainly be fine. My real problem wasn't that there was no way to install docs (apart from the man page, which is still a mystery), but that there wasn't a documented way to do so.

[igloo]

Fixed in HEAD and 6.12:

Mon Nov 16 04:01:37 PST 2009  Simon Marlow <marlowsd@gmail.com>
  * Add an install-docs target that emits a helpful diagnostic (#3662)

[simonmar]

Don't we still have a problem with the missing man page?

[igloo]

I'll fix that