Re: 'gcc logjam'
On Thursday 13 March 2003 8:14 pm, Matt Price wrote:
> hi everyone,
>
> I've noticed frequent references in this list to the 'gcc logjam'.
> Now, I know gcc is the C compiler, and that more or less everything
> in Debian is dependent on it... ut I don't know much else. Can
> anyone tell me what the _issues_ are with gcc, and what the nature of
> the 'logjam' is? I just want to understand batter what it's all
> about. thanks as always,
> matt
The default compiler for woody is gcc-2.95.4. They are moving to
gcc-3.2 in unstable(using currently) and testing. The change in
compiler versions exposes problems that need to be reconciled. In some
cases, different hardware platforms that Debian supports have "issues"
with the new compilers (compiler may have a bug(s) that only effect
certain platforms and code doesn't compile correctly). Or in some cases
software doesn't "like" the new compiler (won't compile or compile
correctly). Finally, in the case of the c++ compiler, there was an ABI
(application binary interface??) change going from 2.95.4 to 3.2 which
means that all the c++ code needs to be recompiled.
It would be great if all the software compiled cleanly, but that doesn't
happen. So volunteers must resolve the problems which requires a lot
of time and effort. The sheer volume of software and architectures
that Debian supports is a big stress test for some of the fundamental
software pieces such as compilers, X11, the kernel, glibc, etc.
John
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