Improving GMP configure

[mgrogue at wi.rr.com]

---- Torbjorn Granlund <tg at gmplib.org> wrote: 
>   >   Could the GMP configure script list the available compiler/ABI
>   >   combinations and let the user choose?  This could help eliminate
>   >   the guesswork for the developer trying to build GMP.
> 
>   > Are you suggesting that configure always do that, or that we add some
>   > option to configure that prints them (and exists?)?
>   
>   I don't have an opinion on how it would be implemented.  I will leave
>   the debate to those who have an active role in GMP development.
>   
> You asked for a feature, and I asked how you would want it to work.  I
> did not ask you about anything concerning its implementation.

Since GMP works "out of the box" for most people, I think that its default functionality should stay as is.

Some users clearly have problems because configure chooses a compiler/ABI combination that ultimately fails (for whatever reason).  For those users, they would a command line switch to tell configure to list the compiler/ABI options available from which the user would select.  The default (or previous) compiler/ABI used would be indicated in some way so that they would know that they are overriding (or changing) that selection.

I could imagine that this would be useful for those who help with the testing of GMP as they could iterate through all compiler/ABI combinations quickly.

--Mark