This is the mail archive of the gcc@gcc.gnu.org mailing list for the GCC project.


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]

[G95-develop] Re: SGI releases IA64 C C++ and F90 compiler underGPL


On Thu, 18 May 2000, Richard Stallman wrote:

>     There are more people asking me to try to convince SGI to assign
>     copyright to the FSF.
> 
> I know very little about what SGI has released.  Does it have any
> connection with GCC, or is it a totally independent compiler?
> 

Much more important than the compiler (there is no realistic way
to combine it with the gcc backend, it uses its own internal represantion
WHIRL, not RTL) is their _library_. It would be a major benefit having a
working library when building the compiler (e.g. g77 uses libf2c,
which predates g77). That way we would have most compatibility concerns
solved already and a major part of the work of building a complete
compiler done. We would have to go with SGI's way of passing array
sections in case we use their library though (supposed they don´t have any
easily replaceable global facilities abstracting the actual model
employed, I didn´t look into their code to deep).

It would be SGI´s benefit also, since compatibility of Pro64 and G95 would
keep:
1) binary objects, like library´s (think NAG, IMSL), portable between
different compilers
2) binary files compatible even across platforms where there is no Pro64,
making it usable under many more circumstances
3) (the ESR argument) we could help SGI enhance their compiler´s library

(I´ve cut RMS from the CC´s in order that you can review stuff before
passing it along to RMS, I think he´s got better stuff to do than to read
everyone´s opinion on this stuff)

- Tobi 



Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]