On Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 3:53 PM, Sandra Loosemore <san...@codesourcery.com> wrote: > On 02/16/2017 03:19 PM, Segher Boessenkool wrote: >> >> On Thu, Feb 16, 2017 at 02:49:47PM -0700, Sandra Loosemore wrote: >>>> >>>> I propose to mark powerpc*-*-*spe* as obsolete in GCC 7. This includes >>>> the spe.h installed header file, all the __builtin_spe* intrinsics, the >>>> -mfloat-gprs= command-line option, and the support for the SPE ABIs. >>>> >>>> No one has properly tested these targets in a long time (the latest >>>> testresults I could find are from July 2015, >1000 failures), and the >>>> SPE support makes a lot of code much more complex. >>>> >>>> Any objections to this obsoletion? GCC 7 will then be the last release >>>> with support for SPE (it will need --enable-obsolete to build these >>>> targets), and we will delete the SPE support during GCC 8 development. >>> >>> >>> Can I ask that we hold off a bit before making a decision on this? >> >> >> Of course, that is what we're doing in any case. >> >> Note that obsoleting it in GCC 7 means GCC 7 will still work, and that >> we *can* remove it in GCC 8; we do not have to. You have plenty of time >> to find some way to keep SPE support in GCC. The obsoletion notice _is_ >> the advance warning you're asking for. >> >> The gcc-7/changes.html text I'll propose later says: >> >> >> <li><p>Support for a number of older systems and recently >> unmaintained or untested target ports of GCC has been declared >> obsolete in GCC 7. Unless there is activity to revive them, the >> next release of GCC will have their sources permanently >> <strong>removed</strong>.</p> >> >> <p>The following ports for individual systems on >> particular architectures have been obsoleted:</p> >> >> <ul> >> <li>PowerPC SPE (powerpc*-*-*spe*) as announced >> <a href="https://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2017-02/msg00041.html";> >> here</a>.</li> >> </ul> >> </li> > > > I understand that you're not going to remove the SPE support tomorrow. But > that notice is going to scare users who depend on it, and I think it's not a > good idea to scare users unnecessarily. AFAIK GCC 7 is not going to be > released tomorrow, either, so why not give folks a little more time to look > into alternatives to announcing the support is being obsoleted? IMO that > should only be done when new maintainers have been solicited and nobody has > come forward.
Sandra, This is not a new issue. The maintainer did not suddenly resign last week. There have been numerous efforts to reach out to the SPE community for over a *decade*, cajoling them to step up with maintenance for the port. I am glad that this notice of obsolescence has focused more attention on the long-standing problem. Thanks, David
