This is the mail archive of the
gcc@gcc.gnu.org
mailing list for the GCC project.
Re: Wannabe Contributor: Questions related to Dev Box setup and other issues
> Although, I guess the FSF and RedHat would encourage you to use a
> free operating system instead of any of the propietary ones
> mentioned above. Isn't it? ;-)
Although this is straying off-topic, I'll answer this one time - the
FSF would prefer that everyone use nothing but free software, but they
recognize the value in putting free software on non-free systems (MS,
Solaris, IRIX, etc) so as to demonstrate the higher quality of free
software, and hopefully convert the masses.
Plus, there are free implementations of MS-DOS now :-)
When I first ported gcc to MS-DOS (DJGPP), RMS didn't like the idea of
supporting a MS system. That changed when they started shipping DJGPP
binaries on CD-ROM; in the first month DJGPP sales exceeded 50% of
their total gross sales.
So, think of "gcc on proprietary OSs" as a lever, not an impediment.