Re: elided copy constructors

[Mark Mitchell <mark@codesourcery.com>]

>>>>> "Martin" == Martin v Loewis <martin@mira.isdn.cs.tu-berlin.de> writes:

    Martin> I think here lies a terrible danger. IMHO, the only option
    Martin> that is guaranteed to work is option 1, and even then only
    Martin> if the amount of money is good enough so that the right
    Martin> people get involved.

Let's not over-analyze.  I've received enough criticism about the way
I wrote option two (asking us nicely to fix it) that I've rewritten
that entry, to get a different tone:

  o Report the problem to egcs-bugs and hope that someone will be kind
    enough to fix it for you.  While this is certainly possible, and
    sometimes happens, there is no guarantee that it will.  You should
    not expect the same response from egcs-bugs that you would see
    from a commercial support organization since the people who read
    egcs-bugs, if they choose to help you, will be volunteering their
    time.  This alternative will work best if you can make your bug
    report as easy to read as possible.  (See <how to write a bug
    report FAQ entry>.)

But, of course, different things will work for different people.  My
goal was to produce a FAQ entry that would give people a clue about
their options, and I still think I succeeded.  I, for one, know that I
have fixed bugs in my code simply out of a feeling of responsibilty;
Martin, I know that you have done the same.  On the other hand, some
of us are both reasonably competent compiler programmers; most people
are probably not willing to dive too far into GCC.  Marc Espie
criticized me for encouraging people to do this, saying that some
people are just unable.  That may or may not be true, but I don't
think this is the forum for that discussion.  People can make that
judgement for themselves; people who know nothing of compilers are
unlikely to dive right in just because I said it's possible.

I think we agree that the three alternatives I listed are the obvious
choices; let's get them in, as FAQ entry, so that we have something to
point "When will this get done?" questions at that's a bit more polite
than just "When you do it yourself!".  Also, some people may not know
that commercial support is available, or what alternatives exist in
that arena; we would all benefit if more people utilized this option
in that we would see more improvements to GCC.

-- 
Mark Mitchell                   mark@codesourcery.com
CodeSourcery, LLC               http://www.codesourcery.com