16619 2007-12-27 00:16:45 -0800 [GTK] Autotools shoud default to WebKitBuild as the build directory 2008-01-21 03:17:08 -0800 1 1 1 Unclassified WebKit WebKitGTK 528+ (Nightly build) PC Linux RESOLVED WONTFIX Gtk P2 Normal --- 16736 0 jmalonzo webkit-unassigned alp sylvain.pasche oldest_to_newest 65347 0 jmalonzo 2007-12-27 00:16:45 -0800 Autotools should default to WebKitBuild as the default build directory. This should avoid littering the source dir with object files and other build artifacts. 66254 1 sylvain.pasche 2008-01-04 21:59:12 -0800 Usually the build directory is the current directory you are in when invoking configure or autogen.sh. I looked at a few autogen.sh scripts, and they always use the current working directory as the objdir. However, there could be a higher level script which would create the WebKitBuild directory, and launch autogen.sh or configure from there. But I'm not sure this brings a lot of added value. We could rather correct the build documentation to use this WebKitBuild directory (once bug 16736 is fixed): Instead of ./autogen.sh --prefix=/path/to/install/directory make There would be: mkdir WebKitBuild cd WebKitBuild ../autogen.sh --prefix=/path/to/install/directory make 67836 2 alp 2008-01-21 03:17:08 -0800 I would say this is a characteristic of autotools. The correct way to avoid littering the source tree, as you pointed out yourself, is to build outside of the source tree. Please re-open the bug if you disagree.