Re: Fwd: Re: Need help for the Gcc problem

["R.G. Mayhue" <rgmayhue@serenesoftware.com>]

On Fri, 18 Feb 2000, JF Martinez wrote:
> > 
> > > 1) Is Gcc 2.95.2 (Linux Intel) ready for prime time?  Alan Cox says it
> > > has some serious bugs.
> > 
> > Did Alan Cox ever say what these bugs are?
> > 
> 
> Yes but I don't remember.  He told it was a relatively common
> sequence.
>
I will relay this. 
> 
> > > 2)  Is it safe to use it to recompile the 2.2 Linux kernel?
> > 
> > I haven't tried in a while, but in my experience, the 2.2 Linux kernel
> > always crashed when compiled with gcc 2.95 (it would not
> > boot). However, I'm not sure whose fault that is.
> > 
> 
> With 2.95.2 (notice the .2) it worked fine for me at compiling 2.2.13
> (i686 monoprocessor) and using -m486
> 
> > > 3) Is it safe to use the -mpentium -mpentiumpro flags?
> > 
> > Yes, it should be.
> > 
> > > 4) Is it living its last days?
> > 
> > Do you mean: Is the World coming to an End? I don't know :-)
> > I really don't understand this question.
> > 
> 
> Is 2.95.3 on the verge of being released?
>
I was not quite sure myself what you ment, but I was close.

Below are two more replies from the list. In the mean time I will wait
and see if there is anything else that you may want to add. If I don't
hear from you within a few hours, I will reply with the above.

--
R.G. Mayhue

 ============================================
----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
Subject: Re: Gcc Problems??
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 16:12:41 -0600
From: David Starner <dvdeug@x8b4e53cd.dhcp.okstate.edu>


On Fri, Feb 18, 2000 at 10:34:45PM +0100, Martin v. Loewis wrote:
> > 2)  Is it safe to use it to recompile the 2.2 Linux kernel?
> 
> I haven't tried in a while, but in my experience, the 2.2 Linux kernel
> always crashed when compiled with gcc 2.95 (it would not
> boot). However, I'm not sure whose fault that is.

Debian compiles its kernels with gcc 2.95, and there hasn't been
any reported problems. I think 2.2.x (for sufficently low x) had
some problems, especially when compiled by 2.95.

> > 4) Is it living its last days?
> 
> Do you mean: Is the World coming to an End? I don't know :-)
> I really don't understand this question.

If the question is whether it's going to be replaced any
time soon, the answer is no. There's no indication that
GCC has fundamental problems that would require a rewrite
to fix. Even if there were, GCC is X-like, in that making
a decent replacement that's as powerful and as portable
is very hard. Remember, your replacement must run on dozens 
of types of Unix on several types of chips, and support most 
to all of GCC's extensions. This replacement must also support
C, Objective C, C++, Pascal, Fortran 77 and Ada to obsolete
GCC.

-- 
David Starner - dstarner98@aasaa.ofe.org
Only a nerd would worry about wrong parentheses with
square brackets. But that's what mathematicians are.
   -- Dr. Burchard, math professor at OSU
-------------------------------------------------------
----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
Subject: Re: Gcc Problems??
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 14:28:33 -0800
From: Eric Christopher <echristo@cygnus.com>


> > I haven't tried in a while, but in my experience, the 2.2 Linux kernel
> > always crashed when compiled with gcc 2.95 (it would not
> > boot). However, I'm not sure whose fault that is.
> 
> Debian compiles its kernels with gcc 2.95, and there hasn't been
> any reported problems. I think 2.2.x (for sufficently low x) had
> some problems, especially when compiled by 2.95.

I have also had no problems compiling various kernels (2.2.12 and above
in the 2.2.x series as well as the 2.3.x series) using 2.95.2.  Using
the current cvs'd compiler also works for the above kernels (I don't
check everything every day, but it has worked whenever I've tried it).

Of course, YMMV if you happen to be compiling something different that I
am in the kernel.

-eric
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