From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Eric Kidd To: egcs@egcs.cygnus.com Subject: Re: __register_frame_info & shared library compatibility Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 23:15:00 -0000 Message-ID: <19990408174015.E30412@moebius.dartmouth.edu> References: <29339.923601663@upchuck> <19990408222418.C21807@pcep-jamie.cern.ch> X-SW-Source: 1999-04n/msg00295.html Message-ID: <19990430231500.VfFAGrh9yrPoDSXyEyD5BLH7hasOt9isu5xejAQZ0l8@z> On Thu, Apr 08, 1999 at 10:24:18PM +0200, Jamie Lokier wrote: > [BTW Jeffrey, your from: address is bouncing] > > > No, this is an egcs problem. We can't have these kinds of problems show > > up when folks rebuild their libraries with newer versions of the compiler. > > > > Can I be any clearer? > > The policy is pretty clear. > > The danger is that we get locked in to including bloat in all binaries, > that can't ever be removed. I'm interested in a solution to that long > term problem. If we have to include the bloat in the interim to provide > binary compatibility, that is fine. It's better to have bloated libraries than broken libraries. ;-) Binary compatibility issues affect thousands of projects and millions of users. I build binary packages for a number of projects, and maintain Linux systems for various people. My life is easiest when the C compiler and libc adhere to well-defined rules. When things get confusing, I make mistakes and cause trouble for downstream users. Other people make mistakes, too, causing me grief. (Right now, both my desktop and latest Mozilla build are broken because somebody at RHAD labs thought it would be fun to compile glib and gtk with egcs. I'll fix this when I have nothing better to do.) Now, whether egcs requires updates to libc is your business, not mine. What *is* essential, though, is that all of us downstream packagers and users understand the rules. Otherwise, we'll screw up and make a mess. So please keep the rules as simple as possible, and document all breakages carefully. Legacy installations are a pain in the neck, but they're also a fact of life. Thank you for letting me get this off my chest. :-) Cheers, Eric