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Re: Using existing Linux sources for the tools


>>>>> "Gregg" == Gregg C Levine <drwho8@worldnet.att.net> writes:

    Gregg> I do all of my Linux work on Slackware. This time I
    Gregg> remembered to obtain the source code, for it, when I bought
    Gregg> the CD set for version 8.0. Are there any objections to my
    Gregg> using that source code, for the binary utilities, and the
    Gregg> compiler set? If I don't hear any, I'll go ahead and do so.
    Gregg> And if there are any actual complaints, please post them
    Gregg> directly to me, first, and then to the list.

One objection - there is no guarantee that the tools shipped with
Slackware can be used for anything other than building code for an x86
PC running Slackware.

When you get a release of gcc, e.g. the 3.1 release, that will have
been tested extensively on x86 Linux because many of the gcc
developers use Linux as a development platform. And even then there
may be some problems, e.g. when compiling the Linux kernel. There will
also have been fairly extensive testing on some other systems such as
Solaris, which are still used by quite a few people. As you move
further away from the core platforms, it becomes more likely that the
release version of the compiler is broken in some way. The released
compiler may not have been tested at all for more obscure platforms.
Even if testing did occur and revealed problems, the people in charge
of the release may have decided that it was not worth holding up the
release for the sake of a small proportion of their user base. There
will be another release some months from now, hopefully somebody will
have contributed suitable patches by then...

Of course you do not need just the compiler: you also need working
binutils and gdb. So you have a number of complicated projects, any of
which may have problems for the particular target you are using.
Getting a fully functional toolchain together requires a fair bit of
work and lots of testing. Or you may get lucky.

If you look at the installation instructions on
sources.redhat.com/ecos, you will see that we recommend say gcc 2.95.2
for some targets, a snapshot for others, and often it will be
necessary to apply one or more patches before you can get working
tools. This is not ideal, especially since 2.95.2 is fairly old. The
alternative is worse: people trying to use broken tools while at the
same time debugging their own application and, for newcomers, learning
all about eCos as well.

Bart

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