Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:59:25 -0800
From:      Maxim Sobolev <sobomax@FreeBSD.org>
To:        Roman Divacky <rdivacky@FreeBSD.org>
Cc:        freebsd-current@FreeBSD.org, Sabeeh Baig <baigsabeeh@gmail.com>
Subject:   Re: Alternatives to gcc (was Re: gcc 4.3: when will it become	standard compiler?)
Message-ID:  <496FBFCD.6010302@FreeBSD.org>
In-Reply-To: <20090115084515.GA91157@freebsd.org>
References:  <de2964020901141507m5a30c466ta1e05694d220ce0b@mail.gmail.com> <20090115084515.GA91157@freebsd.org>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Roman Divacky wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 06:07:48PM -0500, Sabeeh Baig wrote:
>> There is work being done on PCC, which is already capable of compiling
>> the OpenBSD and NetBSD userlands.  PCC is also quite a bit smaller and
>> already performs better than GCC.  OpenBSD folks are helping with the
>> development of PCC, so they can replace GCC in the base.  That might
>> be a solution for FreeBSD too, at least as a system compiler.  GCC
>> could be available as an add-on through ports for those who need it.
> 
> I really dont see any reason why there must be only ONE compiler that
> can be used to compile FreeBSD.
> 
> If you will work on making FreeBSD compile with pcc I am sure noone
> will mind. I am working on clang..... someone else might pick cparser
> and god knows what else....

Nice idea, but...

I think that one thing that people often forget about when talking about 
using external compiler to build base system is that FreeBSD is not only 
self-hosted, but also that it supports cross-builds of any of the 
supported arches. This feature would be physically impossible to 
maintain for any extended period of time with 10 supported compilers 
maintained outside of the tree.

-Maxim



Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?496FBFCD.6010302>