Modifying a libtool project (Makefile) so a corrected linker command is invoked? - makefile

Question

I'm trying to build GNU gettext from git under Cygwin on Windows; the build process broke, and I found a command that fixes it - but now I don't know how to "patch" it in, so the build process proceeds.
I have followed the official INSTALL.windows, option "1) Native binaries, built using the mingw tool chain."; some things have changed since that was written, so a working configure line for me these days was this - note I also want a static build:
./configure --enable-static --host=x86_64-w64-mingw32 --prefix=/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw \
CC=x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc \
CXX=x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ \
CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/include -Wall" \
LDFLAGS="-L/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib"
Now, doing make eventually crashed here:
make[2]: Entering directory '/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl'
/bin/sh ./libtool --tag=CC --mode=link x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -fvisibility=hidden -g -O2 -Wl,--export-all-symbols -ladvapi32 -no-undefined -export-symbols-regex '^([^_]|_[^l]|_l[^i]|_li[^b]|_lib[^i]|_libi[^n]|_libin[^t]|_libint[^l]|_libintl[^_]).*' -version-info 11:0:3 -rpath /usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -L/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -o libintl.la bindtextdom.lo dcgettext.lo dgettext.lo gettext.lo finddomain.lo hash-string.lo loadmsgcat.lo localealias.lo textdomain.lo l10nflist.lo explodename.lo dcigettext.lo dcngettext.lo dngettext.lo ngettext.lo plural.lo plural-exp.lo langprefs.lo log.lo printf.lo setlocale.lo version.lo osdep.lo intl-compat.lo gnulib-lib/libgnu.la libintl.res.lo
libtool: link: rm -fr .libs/libintl.dll.a .libs/libintl.exp
libtool: link: /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-nm -B .libs/bindtextdom.o .libs/dcgettext.o .libs/dgettext.o .libs/gettext.o .libs/finddomain.o .libs/hash-string.o .libs/loadmsgcat.o .libs/localealias.o .libs/textdomain.o .libs/l10nflist.o .libs/explodename.o .libs/dcigettext.o .libs/dcngettext.o .libs/dngettext.o .libs/ngettext.o .libs/plural.o .libs/plural-exp.o .libs/langprefs.o .libs/log.o .libs/printf.o .libs/setlocale.o .libs/version.o .libs/osdep.o .libs/intl-compat.o .libs/libintl.res.o gnulib-lib/.libs/libgnu.a | /usr/bin/sed -n -e 's/^.*[ ]\([ABCDGIRSTW][ABCDGIRSTW]*\)[ ][ ]*\([_A-Za-z][_A-Za-z0-9]*\)$/\1 \2 \2/p' | /usr/bin/sed '/ __gnu_lto/d' | /usr/bin/sed -e '/^[BCDGRS][ ]/s/.*[ ]\([^ ]*\)/\1 DATA/;s/^.*[ ]__nm__\([^ ]*\)[ ][^ ]*/\1 DATA/;/^I[ ]/d;/^[AITW][ ]/s/.* //' | sort | uniq > .libs/libintl.exp
libtool: link: /usr/bin/grep -E -e "^([^_]|_[^l]|_l[^i]|_li[^b]|_lib[^i]|_libi[^n]|_libin[^t]|_libint[^l]|_libintl[^_]).*" ".libs/libintl.exp" > ".libs/libintl.expT"
libtool: link: mv -f ".libs/libintl.expT" ".libs/libintl.exp"
libtool: link: if test DEF = "`/usr/bin/sed -n -e 's/^[ ]*//' -e '/^\(;.*\)*$/d' -e 's/^\(EXPORTS\|LIBRARY\)\([ ].*\)*$/DEF/p' -e q .libs/libintl.exp`" ; then cp .libs/libintl.exp .libs/libintl-8.dll.def; else echo EXPORTS > .libs/libintl-8.dll.def; cat .libs/libintl.exp >> .libs/libintl-8.dll.def; fi
libtool: link: x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -shared .libs/libintl-8.dll.def .libs/bindtextdom.o .libs/dcgettext.o .libs/dgettext.o .libs/gettext.o .libs/finddomain.o .libs/hash-string.o .libs/loadmsgcat.o .libs/localealias.o .libs/textdomain.o .libs/l10nflist.o .libs/explodename.o .libs/dcigettext.o .libs/dcngettext.o .libs/dngettext.o .libs/ngettext.o .libs/plural.o .libs/plural-exp.o .libs/langprefs.o .libs/log.o .libs/printf.o .libs/setlocale.o .libs/version.o .libs/osdep.o .libs/intl-compat.o .libs/libintl.res.o -Wl,--whole-archive gnulib-lib/.libs/libgnu.a -Wl,--no-whole-archive -ladvapi32 -L/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -g -O2 -Wl,--export-all-symbols -o .libs/libintl-8.dll -Wl,--enable-auto-image-base -Xlinker --out-implib -Xlinker .libs/libintl.dll.a
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/localealias.o: in function `read_alias_file':
/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./localealias.c:241: undefined reference to `_libintl_relocate2'
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/printf.o: in function `libintl_vfprintf':
/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./printf.c:125: undefined reference to `_libintl_vasnprintf'
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/printf.o: in function `libintl_vsprintf':
/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./printf.c:187: undefined reference to `_libintl_vasnprintf'
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: /cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./printf.c:187: undefined reference to `_libintl_vasnprintf'
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/printf.o: in function `libintl_vsnprintf':
/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./printf.c:242: undefined reference to `_libintl_vasnprintf'
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/printf.o: in function `libintl_vasprintf':
/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./printf.c:288: undefined reference to `_libintl_vasnprintf'
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/printf.o:/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./printf.c:288: more undefined references to `_libintl_vasnprintf' follow
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/printf.o: in function `_libintl_vasnwprintf':
/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/gnulib-lib/vasnprintf.c:1873: undefined reference to `_libintl_printf_fetchargs'
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make[2]: *** [Makefile:1591: libintl.la] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory '/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl'
Unfortunately, I really do not know how to work with libtool, as a I really have a hard time understanding it; but I could identify this is the "compile" line that fails:
x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -shared .libs/libintl-8.dll.def .libs/bindtextdom.o .libs/dcgettext.o .libs/dgettext.o .libs/gettext.o .libs/finddomain.o .libs/hash-string.o .libs/loadmsgcat.o .libs/localealias.o .libs/textdomain.o .libs/l10nflist.o .libs/explodename.o .libs/dcigettext.o .libs/dcngettext.o .libs/dngettext.o .libs/ngettext.o .libs/plural.o .libs/plural-exp.o .libs/langprefs.o .libs/log.o .libs/printf.o .libs/setlocale.o .libs/version.o .libs/osdep.o .libs/intl-compat.o .libs/libintl.res.o -Wl,--whole-archive gnulib-lib/.libs/libgnu.a -Wl,--no-whole-archive -ladvapi32 -L/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -g -O2 -Wl,--export-all-symbols -o .libs/libintl-8.dll -Wl,--enable-auto-image-base -Xlinker --out-implib -Xlinker .libs/libintl.dll.a
So, with grep-ing, trial, and error, I eventually found that there are missing .o files - gnulib-lib/relocatable.o, gnulib-lib/vasnprintf.o, gnulib-lib/printf-args.o, gnulib-lib/printf-parse.o (relative to the 'gettext-runtime/intl' directory) - which, if added, make the above compile line succeed. That modified line is below and it works/builds fine, without errors, when ran standalone in terminal:
x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -shared .libs/libintl-8.dll.def .libs/bindtextdom.o .libs/dcgettext.o .libs/dgettext.o .libs/gettext.o .libs/finddomain.o .libs/hash-string.o .libs/loadmsgcat.o .libs/localealias.o .libs/textdomain.o .libs/l10nflist.o .libs/explodename.o .libs/dcigettext.o .libs/dcngettext.o .libs/dngettext.o .libs/ngettext.o .libs/plural.o .libs/plural-exp.o .libs/langprefs.o .libs/log.o .libs/printf.o .libs/setlocale.o .libs/version.o .libs/osdep.o .libs/intl-compat.o .libs/libintl.res.o gnulib-lib/relocatable.o gnulib-lib/vasnprintf.o gnulib-lib/printf-args.o gnulib-lib/printf-parse.o -Wl,--whole-archive gnulib-lib/.libs/libgnu.a -Wl,--no-whole-archive -ladvapi32 -L/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -g -O2 -Wl,--export-all-symbols -o .libs/libintl-8.dll -Wl,--enable-auto-image-base -Xlinker --out-implib -Xlinker .libs/libintl.dll.a
Well, that's nice; and in most projects, if I come to a point like this where build breaks, and then I find a passing invocation that I run from the terminal which builds the offending file - usually I can just type make again, and build process continues.
Not here - once the build process (make) enters the 'gettext-runtime/intl', it deletes everything and starts rebuilding from scratch. Damn it.
Well, that means I must at least modify the Makefile somehow; I could not find what in the Makefile corresponds to the x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -shared ... line, but I think it is triggered by the first line once make enters the directory - which is /bin/sh ./libtool --tag=CC --mode=link ..., and I think that one is triggered by this entry in the Makefile:
libintl.la: $(libintl_la_OBJECTS) $(libintl_la_DEPENDENCIES) $(EXTRA_libintl_la_DEPENDENCIES)
$(AM_V_CCLD)$(libintl_la_LINK) $(am_libintl_la_rpath) $(libintl_la_OBJECTS) $(libintl_la_LIBADD) $(LIBS)
First, I tried entering the gnulib-lib/relocatable.o objects here:
libintl.la: $(libintl_la_OBJECTS) $(libintl_la_DEPENDENCIES) $(EXTRA_libintl_la_DEPENDENCIES)
$(AM_V_CCLD)$(libintl_la_LINK) $(am_libintl_la_rpath) $(libintl_la_OBJECTS) gnulib-lib/relocatable.o gnulib-lib/vasnprintf.o gnulib-lib/printf-args.o gnulib-lib/printf-parse.o $(libintl_la_LIBADD) $(LIBS)
This fails with:
libtool: error: cannot build libtool library 'libintl.la' from non-libtool objects on this host: gnulib-lib/relocatable.o gnulib-lib/vasnprintf.o gnulib-lib/printf-args.o gnulib-lib/printf-parse.o
Well, f*** you, damnit.
Turns out, there are also .lo versions of these object, so I tried:
libintl.la: $(libintl_la_OBJECTS) $(libintl_la_DEPENDENCIES) $(EXTRA_libintl_la_DEPENDENCIES)
$(AM_V_CCLD)$(libintl_la_LINK) $(am_libintl_la_rpath) $(libintl_la_OBJECTS) gnulib-lib/relocatable.lo gnulib-lib/vasnprintf.lo gnulib-lib/printf-args.lo gnulib-lib/printf-parse.lo $(libintl_la_LIBADD) $(LIBS)
Now, this sort of posses - but then, the extra objects .lo objects are completely ignored, and I get the exact same linking error at the start of this post:
...
/bin/sh ./libtool --tag=CC --mode=link x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -fvisibility=hidden -g -O2 -Wl,--export-all-symbols -ladvapi32 -no-undefined -export-symbols-regex '^([^_]|_[^l]|_l[^i]|_li[^b]|_lib[^i]|_libi[^n]|_libin[^t]|_libint[^l]|_libintl[^_]).*' -version-info 11:0:3 -rpath /usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -L/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -o libintl.la bindtextdom.lo dcgettext.lo dgettext.lo gettext.lo finddomain.lo hash-string.lo loadmsgcat.lo localealias.lo textdomain.lo l10nflist.lo explodename.lo dcigettext.lo dcngettext.lo dngettext.lo ngettext.lo plural.lo plural-exp.lo langprefs.lo log.lo printf.lo setlocale.lo version.lo osdep.lo intl-compat.lo gnulib-lib/relocatable.lo gnulib-lib/vasnprintf.lo gnulib-lib/printf-args.lo gnulib-lib/printf-parse.lo gnulib-lib/libgnu.la libintl.res.lo
libtool: link: rm -fr .libs/libintl.dll.a .libs/libintl.exp
libtool: link: /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-nm -B .libs/bindtextdom.o .libs/dcgettext.o .libs/dgettext.o .libs/gettext.o .libs/finddomain.o .libs/hash-string.o .libs/loadmsgcat.o .libs/localealias.o .libs/textdomain.o .libs/l10nflist.o .libs/explodename.o .libs/dcigettext.o .libs/dcngettext.o .libs/dngettext.o .libs/ngettext.o .libs/plural.o .libs/plural-exp.o .libs/langprefs.o .libs/log.o .libs/printf.o .libs/setlocale.o .libs/version.o .libs/osdep.o .libs/intl-compat.o .libs/libintl.res.o gnulib-lib/.libs/libgnu.a | /usr/bin/sed -n -e 's/^.*[ ]\([ABCDGIRSTW][ABCDGIRSTW]*\)[ ][ ]*\([_A-Za-z][_A-Za-z0-9]*\)$/\1 \2 \2/p' | /usr/bin/sed '/ __gnu_lto/d' | /usr/bin/sed -e '/^[BCDGRS][ ]/s/.*[ ]\([^ ]*\)/\1 DATA/;s/^.*[ ]__nm__\([^ ]*\)[ ][^ ]*/\1 DATA/;/^I[ ]/d;/^[AITW][ ]/s/.* //' | sort | uniq > .libs/libintl.exp
libtool: link: /usr/bin/grep -E -e "^([^_]|_[^l]|_l[^i]|_li[^b]|_lib[^i]|_libi[^n]|_libin[^t]|_libint[^l]|_libintl[^_]).*" ".libs/libintl.exp" > ".libs/libintl.expT"
libtool: link: mv -f ".libs/libintl.expT" ".libs/libintl.exp"
libtool: link: if test DEF = "`/usr/bin/sed -n -e 's/^[ ]*//' -e '/^\(;.*\)*$/d' -e 's/^\(EXPORTS\|LIBRARY\)\([ ].*\)*$/DEF/p' -e q .libs/libintl.exp`" ; then cp .libs/libintl.exp .libs/libintl-8.dll.def; else echo EXPORTS > .libs/libintl-8.dll.def; cat .libs/libintl.exp >> .libs/libintl-8.dll.def; fi
libtool: link: x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -shared .libs/libintl-8.dll.def .libs/bindtextdom.o .libs/dcgettext.o .libs/dgettext.o .libs/gettext.o .libs/finddomain.o .libs/hash-string.o .libs/loadmsgcat.o .libs/localealias.o .libs/textdomain.o .libs/l10nflist.o .libs/explodename.o .libs/dcigettext.o .libs/dcngettext.o .libs/dngettext.o .libs/ngettext.o .libs/plural.o .libs/plural-exp.o .libs/langprefs.o .libs/log.o .libs/printf.o .libs/setlocale.o .libs/version.o .libs/osdep.o .libs/intl-compat.o .libs/libintl.res.o -Wl,--whole-archive gnulib-lib/.libs/libgnu.a -Wl,--no-whole-archive -ladvapi32 -L/usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/sys-root/mingw/lib -g -O2 -Wl,--export-all-symbols -o .libs/libintl-8.dll -Wl,--enable-auto-image-base -Xlinker --out-implib -Xlinker .libs/libintl.dll.a
/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/11/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld: .libs/localealias.o: in function `read_alias_file':
/cygdrive/c/src/gettext_git/gettext-runtime/intl/./localealias.c:241: undefined reference to `_libintl_relocate2'
...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRHRHRHRHRHHHRHGG!!!!!!1!
So -- how can I hack in my changes in this project, so that build succeeds at least at this failing step? (for reference, here is the Makefile I've got generated in this directory)