Bug#258257: gcc-3.3: driver incorrectly announces to support some languages, resulting in build failures (of others programs)

[Georg Bauhaus <bauhaus@futureapps.de>]

Package: gcc-3.3
Version: 1:3.3.4-1
Severity: normal

hi,

according to "gcc -v", the installed GCC claims to support
a number of languages. It doesn't, however, unless additional
packages are installed as well. For example, there are gnat-3.3,
and gcj-3.3.

 gcc -v
Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i486-linux/3.3.4/specs
Configured with: ../src/configure -v 
--enable-languages=c,c++,java,f77,pascal,objc,ada,treelang --prefix=/usr 
--mandir=/usr/share/man --infodir=/usr/share/info 
--with-gxx-include-dir=/usr/include/c++/3.3 --enable-shared 
--with-system-zlib --enable-nls --without-included-gettext 
--enable-__cxa_atexit --enable-clocale=gnu --enable-debug 
--enable-java-gc=boehm --enable-java-awt=xlib --enable-objc-gc 
i486-linux
Thread model: posix
gcc version 3.3.4 (Debian)

This has some undesirable consequences.

If you want to compile GCC 3.4.1, for example, gcc -c, called
on an Ada file, or on a Java file, will report
"gcc: installation problem, cannot exec gnat1/jc1" resp..
Which is correct because language support is not installed,
but which is incorrect because gcc -v says the support is 
there.

I suggest that the drivers in the gcc-3.3 package announce only
what is actually supported, and that the available "language
addons" be listed in Suggested:.

(BTW, the package says it contains "The GNU C compiler",
when in fact it also compiles Fortran input.
(Isn't the name obsolete anyway?))

regards, georg

(the list below says 3.3.4-1, reportbug says that 3.3.4-2 is
available, but apt-get/dselect don't have anything more recent
after update.)

-- System Information:
Debian Release: testing/unstable
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Kernel: Linux 2.4.18
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8

Versions of packages gcc-3.3 depends on:
ii  binutils                   2.14.90.0.7-8 The GNU assembler, linker and bina
ii  cpp-3.3                    1:3.3.4-1     The GNU C preprocessor
ii  gcc-3.3-base               1:3.3.4-1     The GNU Compiler Collection (base 
ii  libc6                      2.3.2.ds1-13  GNU C Library: Shared libraries an
ii  libgcc1                    1:3.3.4-1     GCC support library

-- no debconf information