[Fedora-packaging] %makeinstall - must not or should not use it?

[Parag N(पराग़)]

Hi,
On 9/10/06, Toshio Kuratomi <a.badger at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 2006-09-10 at 14:39 +0530, Parag N(पराग़) wrote:
> > hi,
> > On 8/21/06, Toshio Kuratomi <toshio at tiki-lounge.com> wrote:
> > > > > "Fedora's RPM includes a %makeinstall macro but it must NOT be used when
> > > > > make install DESTDIR=%{buildroot} will work.  %makeinstall is a kludge
> > > > > that can work with Makefiles that don't make use of the DESTDIR variable
> > > > > but it has the following potential issues:"
>
> > So can i say in other words that if applications built using say GTK
> > application built using glade which automatically creates Makefiles
> > must use always
> > make install DESTDIR=%{buildroot}
> > and not %makeinstall
> >
> > AND if upstream package developer himself written a Makefile then he must use
> > %makeinstall ??
>
> %makeinstall is an RPM spec file macro.  It doesn't involve upstream
> because it is not part of the Makefile.  It is only part of the spec
> file that you, as a Fedora packager, write.
>
> <history>
> When upstream projects create Makefiles, they usually include a variable
> called DESTDIR which allows downstream packagers to install into a
> temporary directory.  This works by prepending DESTDIR to the
> directories that the program installs into *during make install*
> (LIBDIR, DATADIR, etc).  During build (regular "make" or "make all") the
> program uses only the directories the program will end up in (LIBDIR,
> DATADIR, etc) and does not use DESTDIR at all.
>
> Older Makefiles did not use DESTDIR.  So with these the packager has to
> modify the values of the actual destination directories in order to
> install into the temporary root during packaging.  This is what %
> makeinstall does.   Since packagers still run across these Makefiles
> once in a while so %makeinstall still has value.  But using it requires
> extra vigilance on the part of the packager and reviewer.  You should
> look in the build.log to be sure that the package is not rebuilding any
> part of itself during "make install" and grep through the installed
> files to make sure the temporary root isn't included in any of the
> installed files.
> </history>

So in other words i can say if i am going to package any tarball i
should first check main Makefile for DESTDIR variable. If its present
use
make install DESTDIR=%{buildroot}
if DESTDIR is not in Makefile use
%makeinstall
right?
Regards,
Parag.