Will Apple still support GCC development?

[Toon Moene]

Samuel Smythe wrote:

> It is well-known that Apple has been a significant provider of GCC enhancements.
> But it is also probably now well-known that they have opted to drop
> the PPC architecture in favor of an x86-based architecture.
> Will Apple continue to contribute to the PPC-related componentry of GCC,
> or will such contributions be phased out as the transition is made to the
> x86-based systems?

We don't mind.  I bought an Apple G4 PowerBook because it offered me a 
relatively cheap way to get a 32 bit, big endian machine.  The first 
thing I did after receiving it is wiping out OS X and installing a real 
operating system, i.e., Debian.

A big endian system is indispensible if you are a compiler writer, 
because little endian hardware hides too many programmer errors; At the 
previous GCC Summit even the head of the Intel compiler group agreed 
with me on this and pointed out that the Itanium can be run in big 
endian mode.

> In turn, will Apple be providing more x86-related contributions to GCC?

Well, they could do all they might.  I'm just waiting for IBM coming 
forward with a Linux PowerPC64 laptop, so that I can continue to use big 
endian hardware.

-- 
Toon Moene - e-mail: toon@moene.indiv.nluug.nl - phone: +31 346 214290
Saturnushof 14, 3738 XG  Maartensdijk, The Netherlands
A maintainer of GNU Fortran 95: http://gcc.gnu.org/fortran/
Looking for a job: Work from home or at a customer site; HPC, (GNU) 
Fortran & C