title: What is the sense of the word "host" in 'HOSTCC' and ./configure --host?
body: <p>Suppose I have the source for some program, the source uses GNU autotools, and to keep it simple, let's say the program is in no way a development tool of any kind. If I have a cross-toolchain handy, I can <code>configure</code> to cross-compile for the platform <code>fooproc-barvendor-bazos</code> using the <code>--host</code> option:</p>
  <pre><code>./configure --host=fooproc-barvendor-bazos
  </code></pre>
  <p>However, in the quiet(er) style of output adopted by various source builds including Linux 2.6,</p>
  <pre><code>HOSTCC foo.c
  </code></pre>
  <p>means that foo.c is being built with a native compiler for system I'm building on, to differentiate from</p>
  <pre><code>CC bar.c
  </code></pre>
  <p>which means that bar.c is being build with the cross compiler for the system I'm building the program for.</p>
  <p>Did I get confused somewhere there, or does the 'host' in <code>HOSTCC</code> just not mean host in the sense of <code>./configure --host</code>?</p>