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Re: GSoC ideas
Hi Ian,
On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 07:28:19PM -0700, Ian Lance Taylor wrote:
> Robert Millan <rmh@aybabtu.com> writes:
>
> > I know it's a bit late, but I just thought that it'd be really nice if GCC
> > had a C# frontend. I don't have time to do this myself right now (although
> > I'm willing to work on it in the future if noone beats me to it), but maybe
> > someone would pick it if it enters GSoC.
> >
> > My motivation for this is technical but also political (using the GPLv3 to put
> > a stop to the patent-encumberance issues surrounding Mono).
> >
> > Are proposals welcome? If you like, I can ellaborate on it and add it to the
> > wiki page.
>
> Proposals for gcc extensions are always welcome. A C# frontend would
> be interesting, though there might be some patent considerations.
That's where I think it gets interesting. If Microsoft or its partners came to
distribute it, they would be implicitly issuing a public grant of the patents
covering it (as per GPL section 11).
> However, I think a C# frontend would be too much work for one student
> during the summer.
Do you think it can be broken down? My understanding of compilers is very
narrow (although I expect to improve it at some point).
Maybe a subset of the syntax could be defined by a set of test cases?
--
Robert Millan
<GPLv2> I know my rights; I want my phone call!
<DRM> What use is a phone callâ if you are unable to speak?
(as seen on /.)