Re: building gcc 4.4.5 from source on Fedora 13

[Mr Dash Four <mr dot dash dot four at googlemail dot com>]

> Why don't you just install the necessary (x86_64 and i686) packages on
> those other machines?
>   
If I am building from source (SRPMs) I expect everything to be built and 
not scramble around looking for additional RPMs which are part of the 
same package I am supposedly building 'from source'.

> Yep, but didn't we already establish you don't need to anyway, you're
> just ranting about a spec file which does what it's designed to do,
> but not what you want?
>   
Aye, if by above you mean that gcc.spec is designed to compile 
sixty-four-bit-only GCC, including support for such commonly-used 
programming languages like ada, GCC-Java (no Fedora distribution should 
be without it!), giving the grant total of zero flexibility to configure 
any part of the GCC built, than gcc.spec does an absolutely marvellous 
job - no question!

Oh, of course, I nearly forgot the tests - watching that mighty, 
freshly-compiled sixty-four-bit-only GCC perform number-crunching for 
two whole hours as part of that built and seeing those numbers roll on 
my screen is just a jot to watch - absolutely magnificent!

If, on the other hand, one wants to build GCC which truly 
cross-compiles, has the ability to exclude languages which are not 
needed during that built (and save some built time in the process), has 
the ability to exclude the tests (which take 2/3 of the build up, no 
less) and expect at the end of that built to have all the necessary GCC 
packages which enable it to function properly - as a cross-compiler, 
then the current version of gcc.spec does NOT do that and is unsuitable 
for that purpose.

> Just install the necessary packages using yum.
>   
As I already pointed out I, as a user, do not expect to play the role of 
RPM and chase dependencies all day long - I expect when I select GCC to 
be installed (whether via yum, yumdownloader or the rpm itself) and, as 
it has already been established GCC is, supposedly, pre-built by Fedora 
to be a 'cross-compiler', then I expect all the necessary dependencies 
(x86_64 and i686 alike) to be satisfied when that package is installed.

This is not the case - as it turns out the GCC package offered by Fedora 
is NOT a cross-compiler, but it is sixty-four-bit-only version of the 
GCC and if one wants a truly cross-compiling GCC it has to spend a week 
or so on this mailing list to find out what is required.