On Tue, Sep 8, 2015 at 11:57 AM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Common things like CC are not so problematic, but more problematic > are various Git build customization in our Makefile that can be left > behind from a previous build. It is easier for users to forget, as > a "GIT_FOO=NoThanks; export GIT_FOO" that was run previously in the > same shell does not leave trace once the shell exits, compared to > other avenues of customization including config.mak and explicit > command line settings given to the 'make' utility (i.e. can be seen > in 'history' as a single entry, without having to trace the sequence > of 'GIT_FOO=NoThanks', 'export GIT_FOO' and possible 'unset GIT_FOO' > to find what was in effect when 'make' was run). So from that point > of view, if you encourage users to be less explicit by keeping them > in the environment, you are making it easier for the users to hurt > themselves. It should be noted that a common idiom is also "VARIABLE=VALUE Make" where we set the variable in the environment before running the command. This would begin working if you allow the =? setting of variables. That being said, since "make VARIABLE=VALUE" already works, and is really just as easy to type as above, I think I prefer your argument overall. We shouldn't encourage people to use the environment, and instead use config.mak or other methods which are far more explicit. -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html