Peter FELECAN wrote:
> Cyril Plisko <cyril.plisko at gmail.com> writes:
>
>
>>Ken Mays wrote:
>>
>>>Hello....
>>>Someone should have asked Peter to assist in building the GCC cross
>>>compiler since he is the Blastwave GCC maintainer.
>>>Peter - do you feel this is something you'd like to assist or do for
>>>this project (i.e. handle compiing/building the GCC 4.0.1 PPC cross
>>>compiler??) I can assist as well.
>>
>>Peter,
>>
>>Actually I do remember you volunteered for this a looong time ago,
>>but since I never heard from you again I assumed you've lost the
>>interest for this .
>
>
> Indeed, I volunteered for this task in August 2005. External events
> brought my efforts to a halt. I think that now I can devote some time
> to this and devised a plan. It's possible that it doesn't
> correspond to your wishes but I'm open to suggestions. However, I
> have some other due and related projects that I need to finish before.
>
> January 2006:
>
> - finish the packaging of gcc 3.4.5 for Blastwave
> - gather more information about cross tools
>
> February 2006:
>
> cross tool SPARC to PowerPC, Debian 3.1
>
> March 2006:
>
> cross tool x86 to PowerPC, Debian 3.1
>
>
>
> You can read a more detailed account at
> http://pfelecan.free.fr/blastware/crosstools/
>
Peter,
wow - you took it seriously... Project web page, etc...
Ok, back to the cross compiler. I think that issue was brought up
a couple of times before, but it never hurts to go through the plans
one more time.
1. Solaris ON consolidation is not built with cross-compilability in
mind. That is not Linux. Current Solaris supports two architectures
and there are multiple evidence that portability of the code/make
is quite a foreign idea in the source base. Native build is the only
normal form of building ON.
2. We *are* porting ON to another architecture. And therefore native
build is beyond our current options. So we resort to cross-compile
ON on x86 (the choice is due to universal hardware availability).
For that to accomplish we need a cross tool chain where host -
Solaris x86 (5.11, no less) and target Solaris PPC (5.11 what else ?)
The purpose of the cross tool chain used in that process is to get us
to the self hosting Solaris PPC environment, where we will be able to
create a *native* GNU build environment based on :
a) GNU as
b) Solaris native ld (*)
c) GNU gcc
(*) - GNU linker has compatibility issues with Solaris and Solaris
native linker is part of ON, so it is just a less resistance way.
3. At his point the cross tool chain will become unnecessary for the
purpose of ON. I do, however, can imagine the value of the cross
build environment for other use - user-level application, etc.
With these consideration in mind I think that it would be wrong to
invest heavily in creating fully blown CSW cross tool chain distro.
We are in urgent need of cross-compiler _now_. We have kit that
compiles the code into PPC binary, but we are already aware of issues
with the current kit and they (issues) need to be addressed ASAP.
That's the deal. Now the question is would you like to join the efforts
at this very moment or you lean for something more stable and would
like to wait until Polaris turns into self-hosting environment.
Both are fine - we just need to know exactly who is taking care of what.
Best regards,
Cyril
