Overview of make

What does make do for you automatically?
make automatically determines what pieces of a large program need to be recompiled and runs the commands to do that for you.

Who implemented make?
make was implemented by Richard Stallman and Roland McGrath.

Which IEEE Standard does make conform to?
make conforms to section 6.2 of IEEE Standard 1003.2-1992 (POSIX.2).

You can use make to describe any task where some files must be ... automatically from others when the others ...
You can use make to describe any task where some files must be updated automatically from others when the others change.

What should you do if you encounter a bug with make?
If you encounter a bug with make, report it to the developers.

What should you do before reporting a bug with make?
Before reporting a bug with make, you should check the documentation to see if it says you can do what you're trying to do.

What should you do if the documentation isn't clear about what is possible with make?
If the documentation isn't clear about what is possible with make, report it to the developers.

What are the five things you should include in a bug report for make?
The five things you should include in a bug report are:

  1. The smallest possible makefile which reproduces the bug.
  2. The exact results that running make gives, including error or warning messages.
  3. What you expected to occur.
  4. The version number of make.
  5. The type of machine and operating system.

What are the two ways you can report a bug to the developers of make?
The two ways to you can report a bug to the developers of make are:

  1. Sending an email to bug-make@gnu.org.
  2. Going to https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/make.