[jokr004]

Well, the idea is that maybe the command 'go' is different on different build systems/targets and if you need to change it to something else (go-x86, or something like that) then it's going to be more difficult the way you wrote things.

[vog]

Indeed, those variables are very handy for cross compiling. If you don't do anything else, at least define and use a $(CROSS) prefix. (Or, don't and wait for some cross compiling distro to approach you and to offer a patch that introduces such a variable.)

[skybrian]

Sure, that's what variables are for.

But in a small makefile, it's a simple search-and-replace to move it out to a variable. Adding indirection slightly degrades readability, so better to wait until it's first needed.

[jokr004]

Very true.