[haiku-development] Re: GCC 2 x GCC 4

On 2008-08-27 at 05:58:32 [+0200], Ryan Leavengood <leavengood@xxxxxxxxx> 
wrote:
> I don't think any of the developers are against including GCC4, it is
> just a matter of doing the work. The work has already been done to
> have dual GCC2/GCC4 libraries to run GCC4-compiled apps, but to
> actually compile them on Haiku, we need the full GCC4 stack on Haiku
> itself. I am not sure what work needs to be done to get that working,
> though I am sure Ingo has a good idea.

First of all the gcc 4 and binutils version in our repository should be 
updated to a current one. In principle that shouldn't be a real problem. 
Adding the Haiku native part to gcc would be the next step. The patches 
against gcc 2.95.3 and the 3.4.3 (on BeBits) should be a helpful references.

The next part is a bit experimental, and I'm not sure, if it works as simply 
as it sounds: Build a gcc 4 Haiku with the gcc 2.95.3 tool chain. Then build 
(under Haiku) native gcc 4 and binutils (using gcc the 2.95.3 tools), 
bootstrap those, and build the rest of the tool chain. The last part should 
(at least theoretically) be straight forward, though I wouldn't rule out that 
the gcc 4 build exposes new problems that need fixing.

If for some reason it is a problem to build a native gcc 4 and binutils under 
Haiku, cross-compilation will be necessary.

> In fact, let's ask: Ingo, since you are so busy, is there something
> those of us with an interest and stake in having GCC4 on Haiku can do
> to help get that going?

The steps of the porting process are described above. That's what is to do. I 
intend to re-iterate through the tool chain before alpha 1 to update to the 
latest versions, move everything to /boot/common and fix some of the known 
problems. I think I'd have a look at the gcc 4 part, if no one beats me to it.

CU, Ingo

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