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List:       openbsd-misc
Subject:    Re: Compilers in OpenBSD
From:       hub () riseup ! net
Date:       2013-07-31 22:09:16
Message-ID: 201307312214.r6VME8jf020115 () shear ! ucar ! edu
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Finally. Someone who's really smart Explained Everything in a solid bug-free english text
(shame on me).

> And if/when such a switch happens, bugs will trigger and problems will
> need fixing; and we can not risk being naive enough to expect llvm
> developers to handle bug reports and bugfix releases any better than the
> gcc developers do (although we hope they will).

> Assuming the upstream developers fail to deliver, it's up to us to fix
> or workaround compiler problems as we encounter them; sometimes it's as
> easy as finding out which patch has been commited upstream, but not
> backported to the version we use; and sometimes it's a genuine issue
> which may or may not have been reported in the latest compiler version,
> and we are on our own. When this happens, we can only rely upon our
> developer skills and intimacy with the compiler.

The absolute truth.

> ...but there is something I wish would happen first.
>
> An LTS release of an open source compiler.
>
> Because all compilers nowadays are full of subtle bugs, but so many of
> them than you can't avoid them as soon as you compile any nontrivial
> piece of code, and because we can't afford to going back to assembly, we
> need a compiler we can trust.

PERFECT, thought-out idea.

> Should a free software LTS compiler appear (be it a gcc fork, or an llvm
> fork, or something else), then OpenBSD would consider using it, very
> seriously. And we probably wouldn't be the only free software project
> doing so.

The answer is definitly YES. Though I am just a f*****g user who talks to much.

For such a brilliant manuscrpit I'd only like to add a simple sub-question:
Are you guys consider Portable C Compiler unsuitable/dead for this race? Or
you just want stable LTS slices of industry-backed compillers?

Regards, Hans.

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