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Re: GCC vs GLIBC: why this stance, Drepper ?!?


On Sun, Jul 01, 2001 at 11:58:24AM -0700, Mark Mitchell wrote:
> 
> We introduced libgcc for very good reasons, and those reasons are

I don't dispute it.

> documented in these archives.  We understand that by doing so we have
> made a promise not to break the binary interface to libgcc.  We will
> do our best to keep that promise, and we will certainly fix any breakage
> that is reported.
> 
> Your `./configure' example is not an issue, as has been discussed before,
> since that only affects people who use --prefix=/usr.  Otherwise, the
> new libgcc will not be used, unless you have an explicitly set 
> LD_LIBRARY_PATH, which, presumably, key system processes run as root,
> do not.

It is the same thing as you are saying you can install another version
of the system shared C library, libc.so, in /usr/local/lib and expect
the whole machine will work reliably.

> 
> The key problem, as discussed before, and as you pointed out in your
> message, is that GCC is both a system compiler (on some systems) and
> not (on other systems).  It is the job of the system integrator to take
> GCC and make it work well in those situations where it is a system
> compiler.  Our job is to make that possible.
> 

It is not an issue if

1. Gcc only comes from the system vendor. And
2. We don't care about compatibility between systems where glibc and
gcc are system packages.

The key issues are when a normal gcc user does

# ./configure
# make bootstrap
# make

1. It won't override shared system library, one way or the other.
2. The binary the gcc generates is compatible with other machines
where glibc and gcc are system packages, provided the compatible
versions of gcc and gcc are installed.


H.J.


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