macro (canonical_host)
    if (NOT DEFINED host_cpu)
        message (STATUS "checking the host CPU")

        execute_process (
            COMMAND ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER} -dumpmachine
            RESULT_VARIABLE __canonical_host_result
            OUTPUT_VARIABLE __canonical_host_output
        )

        if (${__canonical_host_result})
            message (FATAL_ERROR "unable to query for canonical host")
        endif (${__canonical_host_result})
        
        string(REGEX MATCH "^([^-\]+)" host_cpu ${__canonical_host_output})
        set (host_cpu "${host_cpu}" CACHE INTERNAL "host cpu type")

        message (STATUS "checking the host CPU - found '${host_cpu}'")
    endif ()
endmacro (canonical_host)