Bug#56160: /usr/include/string.h cannot be included with gcc -traditional -O2

[Kevin Dalley <kevind@rahul.net>]

Package: libc6-dev
Version: 2.1.2-11
Severity: important

Try compiling fred.c below as follows and you get warning messages,
lots of them.  In fact, the system grinds to a halt trying to include
files over and over again.  Removing "-O2" or "-traditional" will make
the problem disappear.  There are workarounds.  Of course, removing
"-traditional" may not work on an older C program.  Optimization
should be possible.  Having the system grind to a halt with a simple
compile is a bad thing.

% cc -traditional -O2 -c fred.c | head
In file included from /usr/include/string.h:346,
                 from fred.c:1:
/usr/include/bits/string2.h:1104: macro or `#include' recursion too deep
/usr/include/bits/string2.h:1171: macro or `#include' recursion too deep
/usr/include/bits/string2.h:1171: macro or `#include' recursion too deep
...

fred.c:


#include <string.h>
main()
{
}


-- System Information
Debian Release: potato
Architecture: i386
Kernel: Linux laminaria 2.2.14 #1 Sat Jan 22 11:25:24 PST 2000 i686

Versions of packages libc6-dev depends on:
ii  libc6                         2.1.2-11   GNU C Library: Shared libraries an