[distcc] Adding preprocess-only option to distcc?

[Jennifer Bevan]

Hi all,
I would like to use part of distcc -- namely, the Makefile
handling and preprocessing part.  I would then like
to take the nice preprocessed files and use them for
my own purposes, without actually calling the compiler.
I can't just run the local preprocessor because it won't
catch the definitions in the Makefile, and I can't modify
the Makefiles.  It seems that distcc would be ideal,
except that it doesn't seem to have an option for
preprocess-only (although I believe that it can write
the preprocessed files out as temp files and not
delete them).

I would be happy to add this and submit a patch myself, but I thought
I should check with y'all and see if you think that this
is a reasonable extension to distcc, or if it goes against
the philosophy of the project.  Of course, if anyone knows
of a different tool that already does exactly what I'm
trying to do (but for some mystery of search query
formation, have not been able to find on my own), please
just let me know.

Thanks,
-Jennifer Bevan
jen at alouysius.net