In preparation for upgrading compilers and build platforms, we would like to get better separation between the two. At least on Linux and Solaris this is certainly possible. Some work for this was already done in Jdk 8 but it was never taken all the way through into actual usage.

In this bug, the configure parameters relating to this will be changed to:

--with-sysroot: Sets a sysroot directory that will be propagated to the compiler (gcc --sysroot) if supported and which will be used by configure to look for all dependencies like headers and libraries. (old --with-sys-root will be kept for compatibility as an alias)

--with-toolchain-path: Prepends to the path when looking for compilers and other target specific tools. Replaces --with-tools-dir, which will also be kept for compatibility as an alias.

--with-extra-path: Prepends to the path when looking for everything.

--with-devkit: Points to the root of a devkit. A devkit may have a "devkit.info" in its root detailing values for the above three parameters. If not, the fallback behavior is what it used to do. (set toolchain_path to devkit/bin and some options for subdirs for sysroot)