[CMake] Copying cmake generated files to another machine

[Óscar Fuentes]

Brad King <brad.king at kitware.com> writes:

[snip]

> In return for the above explanation, I request an explanation as to
> the restrictions that make distributing CMake so hard, particularly
> on machines that already have the entire GNU toolchain.  Have you
> ever tried to build GCC 4.4 and all its dependencies from scratch?
> It's do-able, but the effort is much greater than installing CMake.
>
> If there is any reason not to install CMake other than "it's another
> dependency", perhaps we can address it.  If the only reason is that
> "it's another dependency", consider that once CMake is installed it
> can find all the *other* dependencies automatically on most systems.

My knowledge about Steve's circumstance is just a bit more detailed than
what he exposed here, but I have experience on even stricter
environments and can explain how the thing goes:

A department's work is to certify some piece of software for some
purpose (release to the public, internal use, etc). They have the source
code (LLVM/clang, on this case) and hence they need a compiler
(VC++). LLVM/clang has no external dependencies, it only uses the system
libraries. So adding CMake to the requirements is to add a dependency
where none was required before.

The people who do that kind of work is very strict ("anal retentive" if
you prefer) and will resist any change on their work routine.

If Steve sneaks CMake's source code with the LLVM/clang source base and
adds a script for building the whole package, maybe the "clients" will
not care. If he adds installing CMake and invoking it for generating the
VC++ project files, it is very likely that he will find a strong
resistance.

-- 
Óscar