manu AT gcc DOT gnu DOT org
NewWconversion (old version: Wcoercion Project)
A script gccfarming for bootstrap+regression test patches to GCC used by me in the GCC Compile Farm.
5 things that GCC could do better as a community
A simple/flexible click-through web-form for copyright assignment, following Google's example.1
Attract more developers.
Problems: In my opinion, GCC could benefit a lot by attracting more contributors in general and specifically more part-time volunteer contributors.
Goals: GCC should have at least 2 active maintainers per module. GCC should have at least 5 new part-time contributors per year.2 GCC should maintain and expand the number of paid-contributors from organizations and corporations. GCC should attract contributors from the research community.3
Upgrade all infrastructure around GCC.
Problems:
- Old, outdated, unmaintained, understaffed infrastructure: wiki, bugzilla, SVN repository, HTML pages (+CVS repository), mailing lists software/archives.
Missing infrastructure: project-wide build-bot/regression-tester/speed-memory-tester, patch tracker, ???.
Example of successful infrastructure: CompileFarm (but needs better marketing/exposure).
Goals: At least 2 maintainers of each infrastructure component. Upgrade components periodically. Current bugzilla version is completely obsolete and a security-risk. Get rid of outdated/obsolete infrastructure (e.g., get rid of CVS). Better marketing/exposure of existing infrastructure.
Make GCC more useful and interesting to users
Problems:
GCC capabilities are difficult to reuse for other purposes.5
GCC existing capabilities are poorly documented and not as talked about and publicly visible as they could be if presented more appealingly (and even more), more often, and more visibly.
GCC is not as user-friendly as it could be.
However, GCC is way better than its public image. GCC has a marketing problem!.
Notes
The whole thread Why not contribute? shows that this is a major problem. See also my reasons, Ian Lance Taylor agrees that the process is complex and confusing and also believes a web form would help. (1)
This is a really low number but I think a higher number is unrealistic. (2)
In my opinion, this is where GCC is further away from success because researchers have already moved to LLVM (3)
The usual response is to look at the source but the sources are many times not well-documented, logically structured or easy to browse. (4)
plugins help here but this is still generally more difficult in GCC than in other compilers (5)