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Understanding Make Command Line Options


  • Output: When you run make --version, the program prints details like the major and minor version number, build date (if available), and copyright information.

  • make: This is the command used to invoke the GNU Make program.

  • --version: This is a standard command-line flag commonly used by many programs to indicate you want to see the version information.

This helps you identify the specific version of GNU Make you're using, which can be helpful for:

  • Troubleshooting: If you encounter issues with Make, the version information can be helpful when seeking help or reporting bugs.
  • Compatibility: Knowing the version ensures compatibility with Makefiles written for a specific version or to check for features available in your particular version.

# Run make with the --version option
make --version

This will typically output something like:

GNU Make 4.3
Built for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
Copyright (C) 1988-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
This is free software; you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

The output will vary depending on your specific version and system.


  • System Information: If you're looking for general system information like the operating system version or kernel version, you can use commands specific to your operating system. For example, uname -r on Linux displays the kernel version.

  • Project Version: Many projects have their own versioning system independent of the build system. This information might be stored in a separate file, command-line arguments for specific build tools, or environment variables. Check the project documentation for details.