Question about gcc-lib and building on SPARC

["Mark Cuss" <mcuss at cdlsystems dot com>]

Hello - this is definitely a newbie question, so bear with me...

We've been using gcc under Solaris on SPARC hardware for some time now.  The 
guy who was here before me set up the previous version (gcc-3.3.3) and now 
I'm trying to get gcc-3.4.4 to build.

In the old gcc-3.3.3 install tree, I have the following directory:
$prefix/lib/gcc-lib/sparc-sun-solaris2.9/3.3.3

gcc 3.3.3 was compiled with the following configure flags:
[mark@typhoon mark]$ gcc -v
Reading specs from 
/cdl/apps/.software/sun/gcc-3.3.3/lib/gcc-lib/sparc-sun-solaris2.9/3.3.3/specs
Configured with: 
configure --with-gnu-as --with-as=/cdl/apps/bin/sun/as --with-gnu-ld --with-ld=/cdl/apps/bin/sun/ld 
--enable-langauges=c,c++ --disable-shared --prefix=/cdl/apps/.software/sun/gcc-3.3.3
Thread model: posix
gcc version 3.3.3
[mark@typhoon mark]$

I've successfully built and installed gcc-3.4.4 with the following configure 
flags:
[mark@typhoon bin]$ ./gcc -v
Reading specs from 
/cdl/apps/.software/sun/gcc-3.4.4/bin/../lib/gcc/sparc-sun-solaris2.9/3.4.4/specs
Configured with: 
/cdl/apps/.software/sun/build/gcc-3.4.4-build/gcc-3.4.4/configure --disable-shared 
--prefix=/cdl/apps/.software/sun/gcc-3.4.4/ --enable-languages=c,c++
Thread model: posix
gcc version 3.4.4
[mark@typhoon bin]$

However, in this case, I don't have the "gcc-lib" directory anymore.  When I 
try to build stuff with this compiler (a simple helloworld), the linker 
returns symbol errors, likely because the Sun-supplied ld and not the GNU ld 
is being used (even though a GNU ld exists in my PATH)

The obvious answer is that I didn't specify --with-gnu-ld 
and --with-ld=<path> in my gcc-3.4.4 configure.  I would have done this, but 
our Developers need to use Purify Plus on Sun, and if I do this, it breaks 
Purify because it somehow uses it's own linker at buld time.  The solution 
from Purify tech support was to go into 
$prefix/lib/gcc-lib/sparc-sun-solaris2.9/<version> and drop in symbolic 
links to the GNU ld and as.  When I attempted to do this though, I realized 
this directory doesn't seem to exist under gcc-3.4.4

So, to make a painfully long story short, I need to know how gcc 3.4.4 
decides upon which linker / assembler it uses.  I read the configure 
instructions and found that when the compiler is built is uses a whole bunch 
of rules to find as and ld, and it seems apparent that I'm using the Sun ld 
and as instead of the GNU one.  However, the old trick of putting symlinks 
in $prefix/lib/gcc-lib/sparc-sun-solaris2.9/<version> doesn't work anymore. 
Could someone please point a newbie in the right direction?

Thanks in advance,
Mark

Mark Cuss, B. Sc.
Software Developer
Systems Administrator
CDL Systems Ltd.
Suite 220
3553 31 Street NW
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2L 2K7

Phone 403 289 1733 ext 226
Fax 403 289 3967
mcuss@cdlsystems.com
www.cdlsystems.com