File: make.info,  Node: Bugs,  Prev: Reading,  Up: Overview

1.2 Problems and Bugs
=====================

If you have problems with GNU 'make' or think you've found a bug, please
report it to the developers; we cannot promise to do anything but we
might well want to fix it.

   Before reporting a bug, make sure you've actually found a real bug.
Carefully reread the documentation and see if it really says you can do
what you're trying to do.  If it's not clear whether you should be able
to do something or not, report that too; it's a bug in the
documentation!

   Before reporting a bug or trying to fix it yourself, try to isolate
it to the smallest possible makefile that reproduces the problem.  Then
send us the makefile and the exact results 'make' gave you, including
any error or warning messages.  Please don't paraphrase these messages:
it's best to cut and paste them into your report.  When generating this
small makefile, be sure to not use any non-free or unusual tools in your
recipes: you can almost always emulate what such a tool would do with
simple shell commands.  Finally, be sure to explain what you expected to
occur; this will help us decide whether the problem was really in the
documentation.

   Once you have a precise problem you can report it in one of two ways.
Either send electronic mail to:

         bug-make@gnu.org

or use our Web-based project management tool, at:

         https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/make/

In addition to the information above, please be careful to include the
version number of 'make' you are using.  You can get this information
with the command 'make --version'.  Be sure also to include the type of
machine and operating system you are using.  One way to obtain this
information is by looking at the final lines of output from the command
'make --help'.

   If you have a code change you'd like to submit, see the 'README' file
section "Submitting Patches" for information.