On 7 April 2011 02:52, Felix Lawrence <fe...@physics.usyd.edu.au> wrote: > On Apr 6, 7:19 pm, "Dr. David Kirkby" <david.kir...@onetel.net> wrote: >> There seems to be a growing body of opinion that Clang >> >> http://clang.llvm.org/ >> >> will replace gcc as the compiler of choice for open-source projects - not >> just >> on OS X. > I've heard this too.
I believe it's only a matter of time. The Sage community will have to sort out a lot of issues if we want to build Sage with Clang. (Many parts of Sage ignores the CC and CXX variables, and those that do not are often written in a pseudo-C or pseudo-C++ which I doubt Clang will accept. >> I also noticed that Xcode is no longer free, though it only costs $4.99. > You can still download Xcode 3 with a free account or install it from > the OS X installation disks... for now. That was not obvious to me when I looked. But I did not look too hard it must be said, as I don't have a Mac. > We (the open source community > in general) should be concerned that in the near future, the only way > to get compilers for mac might no longer be free. AFAICT all other > sources of gcc for mac rely on Apple's gcc already being installed. Unlike Linux, OS X is a certified UNiX operating system which is not free, so one might say the fact the compiler is not free is not surprising. The same issue arises on both IBM's AIX and HP''s, HP-UX. These are all commercial operating systems for which the compilers have to be purchased. One should also note in the case of AIX and HP-UX, the compilers cost a *lot* more. I don't know the prices, but I'd be surprised if any compiler was under $1000. If you buy a commercial operating system, that's a price you have to expect to pay I guess. It used to be the same way on Solaris. too - the compiler had to be paid for, though now its free. Of course, one difference here is that IBM and HP have written those compilers, so there is more justification in charging for them. Macs are nice machines, but not really the machine I would expect someone to purchase if they were strapped for cash. A generic x86 machine will give you more performance for your money. I was quite impressed with my brothers iPhone 4 (despite the dumb antenna problem) and considered perhaps buying one. But when I realized that Apple control what I can put on the phone, I decided not to bother. > For many people, this would make Sage no longer free - it would > effectively cost $5 and none of that money goes to Sage. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. We can give them a Sage binary. They can I assume download a binary for gcc and put that on their Mac can they not? I know in the case of AIX and HP-UX, one can get binary versions of gcc from various sources. Dave -- To post to this group, send an email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to sage-devel+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URL: http://www.sagemath.org
