make version GNU Make 3.81 Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. This program built for i686-pc-cygwin The following make fails on part1 as expected make targ echo makeing part1 makeing part1 test 1 -eq 2 make: *** [part1] Error 1 make targ exit status 2 The following make fails on parts 1 and 2 as expected make -k targ echo makeing part1 makeing part1 test 1 -eq 2 make: *** [part1] Error 1 echo makeing part2 makeing part2 test 2 -eq 3 make: *** [part2] Error 1 make: Target `targ' not remade because of errors. make targ -k exit status 2 The following make succeeds, claiming to make all parts make -silent targ makeing part1 makeing part2 making target make targ -silent exit status 0 The following make succeeds, claiming to make all parts, but printing the exit codes on commands that actually failed make -i targ echo makeing part1 makeing part1 test 1 -eq 2 make: [part1] Error 1 (ignored) echo makeing part2 makeing part2 test 2 -eq 3 make: [part2] Error 1 (ignored) echo making target making target make targ -i exit status 0