Fresh install of GCC?

Fresh install of GCC?

[Shawn Morford]

I'm setting up a Linux box (Red Hat 8), and I'd like to use the latest
version of GCC/GNU MAKE rather than the version that comes on the install
CDs.  I've tried a couple ways to do this, but haven't had any success.
The first thing I tried was installing RH8 as normal, then I downloaded the
source for the latest GCC, and built/installed the new version on top on the
already installed compiler.  With this setup, not only was I not able to
compile any new programs, most of my installed software (including
X-Windows) failed to run at all.
I formatted the thing and went on to plan B.  This time, I didn't install
any development tools going through the Red Hat installer, thinking that I
would set up GCC without an older version to conflict with. Problem: it
seems MAKE and GCC are required to build GCC, and GCC is necessary to create
MAKE.  As such, I was stuck with no way to even compile GCC, let alone test
it.
So now I'm asking the folks who know more about this stuff than I do.
Personally, I would prefer to do something along the line of my plan B:
install GCC/MAKE without any conflicting with previous versions.  I've seen
mention of "cross compilers" on a few sites i found Googling, but I have no
idea what those are or what to do with them.  What's the best way to get the
latest GCC on a system with no development tools? And, looking ahead, once I
have this set up, what's the best way to upgrade my compiler without
screwing up existing software?  Thanks in advance for any help.

Re: Fresh install of GCC?

[Brian Gough]

"Shawn Morford" <gcc@digiex.homeip.net> writes:

> So now I'm asking the folks who know more about this stuff than I do.
> Personally, I would prefer to do something along the line of my plan B:
> install GCC/MAKE without any conflicting with previous versions.  I've seen
> mention of "cross compilers" on a few sites i found Googling, but I have no
> idea what those are or what to do with them.  What's the best way to get the
> latest GCC on a system with no development tools? And, looking ahead, once I
> have this set up, what's the best way to upgrade my compiler without
> screwing up existing software?  Thanks in advance for any help.

To have multiple versions installed, use the --prefix option to
./configure to specify another directory (e.g. /opt/gcc-3.4.0) for the
new gcc installation.

-- 
Brian Gough

Network Theory Ltd,
Publishing Free Software Manuals --- http://www.network-theory.co.uk/