Re: build failure, GMP not available

[Geoffrey Keating <geoffk at apple dot com>]

On 31/10/2006, at 7:45 AM, Mark Mitchell wrote:

> Geoffrey Keating wrote:
>
> > > OK, I agree: a native compiler, with no special options, isn't  
> > > too hard.  I don't think typing that sequence twice would be too  
> > > hard either, though. :-)
> > For something that's not too hard, it's sure causing me a lot of  
> > trouble...
>
> But, the trouble you're having is not because you have to build an  
> external library; it's because the external library you're building  
> doesn't work on your system, or, at least, doesn't work with  
> obvious default build options.

This kind of thing often happens when you have to build an external  
library.  For example, look at the mail that Shantonu sent me while  
we were trying to work out whether GMP did or did not work:

> Maybe you have an old version of gmp in your default linker search  
> path causing bad things to happen.
...
> work around this by setting RANLIB="ranlib -c", so that the  
> calling_convention_* symbols get put in the archive table of  
> contents so that the Darwin linker loads the archive member on- 
> demand from libtests.a

So, now if I tell you that despite all reports that it 'works fine',  
I'm getting

> FAIL: gcc.dg/torture/builtin-sin-mpfr-1.c  -O0  (test for excess  
> errors)

do you think this is likely to be:
1. some problem in gmp or mpfr,
2. some problem in my build of gmp and/or mpfr, that wouldn't occur  
if I'd built it in some other (unspecified) way,
3. some problem in my existing system configuration, maybe I already  
have a gmp installed that is somehow conflicting, or
4. a well-known but not serious bug in GCC's Darwin port?

It turns out the answer is 4, at least I think it is.

>   So, we should fix the external library, or, in the worst case,  
> declare that external library beyond salvage.
>
> In contrast, as I understand it, Ian's perturbed about the idea of  
> having an external library at all.

I don't think Ian would object to an external library that users  
could always find easily, that always built cleanly, that didn't have  
bugs...  but such a library doesn't exist.

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