[haiku-development] Re: R1/Alpha1: Prop # 4: Release as the GCC 2/4 hybrid

  • From: Ingo Weinhold <ingo_weinhold@xxxxxx>
  • To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 23 May 2009 14:50:36 +0200

On 2009-05-22 at 23:30:08 [+0200], Matt Madia <mattmadia@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> First and foremost, this is not an indication that R1/Alpha1 is ready.
> 
> The purpose of this thread is to revisit the decision to release
> R1/Alpha1 as a gcc2-hybrid.
> http://dev.haiku-os.org/wiki/R1/Alpha1Proposals#Prop4:ReleaseastheGCC24hybrid
> 
> This will hopefully allow us to:
>   * identify the issues that prevent a hybrid image from functioning as 
>   expected
>   * estimate the complexity of resolving those issues
>   * determine this is indeed a wanted and needed functionality for R1/Alpha1
> 
> Here are some current issues with hybrids
> (disclaimer, i could very well be incorrect about these details)
> 
> 1- Translator presentation
>   Eg, on on gcc4-hybrid, WonderBrush (a gcc2 only app) will appear to
> fail, due to being presented gcc4-translators.

This should be solvable by also including the translators for the alternative 
gcc version and let libtranslation load them respectively.

> 2- Cannot compile programs for the alternate libs
>   Eg, on a gcc2-hybrid system, an end user cannot create gcc4 binaries
> or vice versa.

I believe the only things to change to allow that are the BELIBRARIES 
variable, the /boot/develop/tools/gnupro symlink and the 
/boot/develop/headers/cpp dir/symlink. A convenient way to switch would 
certainly be nice.

> 3- Haiku itself cannot build the alternate gcc of itself.
>   Eg, a gcc2 system cannot create a gcc4 build of Haiku or vice versa.

I don't see why. Should only be a matter of building/installing the 
cross-compiler, just like under other OSs.

> 4- Aside from gnash, what is the list of software that is exclusive to gcc4?
>   Note, WebKit is also gcc4-exclusive, but as of today, it isn't ready
> for distribution.

The main question is, what our vision for the R1 release is and what we want 
the alpha 1 release to be. If the alpha 1 is supposed to be an alpha version 
to R1, then we should build it as close to R1 as possible at that point -- 
obviously just with more bugs and a few missing features. If alpha 1 is just 
supposed to be some alpha quality release not directly related to R1, then 
that doesn't really matter.

I'd prefer the first approach, i.e. plan R1 now and design the alphas and 
betas to be milestones on the way to R1. Besides that this is the common 
approach and I think also more logical, it will hopefully also bring us 
quicker to R1.

Getting back to your question, I suppose R1 will be with us for quite a while. 
So when taking this approach, we should not consider what gcc4 only software 
exists now, but what software will exist until R1.1 or R2.

> Any thoughts on having haiku-files.org provide gcc2hybrid and/or
> gcc4hybrid images?

If alpha 1 shall be a hybrid build, we should definitely make similar hybrid 
images available.

CU, Ingo

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