Should GNU make 3.81 be required?

[Joseph D. Darcy]

Kelly O'Hair wrote:
>
> So I'm trying to work out some jdk7 Makefile performance improvements
> and everything is working out fine on Linux and OpenSolaris...
> Then I discover that the GNU make features I'm using are seriously
> broken in GNU make 3.80 and I need 3.81 to get around it. :^(
>
> Also it turns out that GNU make 3.78.1 and 3.79 are definitely out
> of the question because they don't even implement some the make
> functions I need. I suspect many people still use GNU make 3.78.1
> or 3.79.
>
> So do I continue on, and assume a new requirement to upgrade to GNU make
> 3.81 because of these changes (on all platforms), or do I go back to the
> drawing board and try and make the changes work with 3.80, or even
> 3.78.1 ???
>
> -kto

For as long as I remember, we've used make 3.78.*.  I assume the most 
problematic platform to upgrade is windows.  However, if there are 
significant benefits build time benefits, I think upgrading the make 
version is justified.

-Joe