Re: rfc: new libgcc build mechanism

[Akim Demaille <akim at epita dot fr>]

>>>>> "Ian" == Ian Lance Taylor <ian@zembu.com> writes:

Akim> Why can't we expect sh5 being available?

Ian> Because sh5, as indicated by its name, is the System V shell.  It
Ian> will not be found on a pure BSD system.  Similarly, ksh, the Korn
Ian> shell, is a Bell Labs invention made well after the BSD split.

Ian> Systems like Ultrix have sh5 because, although they are BSD
Ian> based, they want to provide some System V compatibility.  Pure
Ian> BSD does not have (or want) System V compatibility.

Thanks Ian.

I would like to explain my attitude, which may sound unpleasant, and I
apologize if it is, this is not my intention.

Participating to the development of Autoconf, it is my duty to double
check everything, to adopt a doubtful position in face of statements.
It does not mean I trust nobody, but because Autoconf is somewhere
between Sorcery and Fairy Tales about portability, I am trying to
rationalize this and maintain a data base of certified facts.  It is
part of my responsibility as a maintainer to build a list of forbidden
features with the precise references of the system which forbids it.

My favorite example is that for instance, in distant ages, `#' was not
supported for comments, `:' had to be used.  Autoconf does not try to
be *that* portable, hence the `age' of misfeatures *does* matter.

Unfortunately I am far from having a large experience in this area,
and there are people here with whom I would certainly not try to
defend my views.  Nevertheless, I *have* to ask to double check,
because I know that everyone has a lot of portability knowledge, by as
time passes, it becomes unclear what was actually a myth, and what is
the truth.

I would like to invite the knowledgeable people to participate to the
development of this list, which is being built in autoconf.texi.  Or
point me to valuable documentation.

Again, I apologize if I sounded arrogant, I'm just trying to do my
work almost scientifically.

Sincerely,

        Akim

PS/ The extent of my ignorance is much wider than just the portability
issues, as for instance I would like to know more about the systems
themselves.  If someone knows a site where I could learn about what
means `BSD4.3', `Ultrix' etc., that would be wonderful.