Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Gregory Casamento]

All,

Hey guys.... I'm wondering if there's a timeline for incorporating the
Objective-C 2.0 changes from Apple into the trunk of GCC.

If not, I would like to know what the GNUstep project can do to help
make this happen.

Thanks very much. :)

Sincerely, GC
--
Gregory Casamento
Open Logic Corporation, Principal Consultant
## GNUstep Chief Maintainer
yahoo/skype: greg_casamento, aol: gjcasa
(240)274-9630 (Cell), (301)362-9640 (Home)

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Paolo Bonzini]

Gregory Casamento wrote:
> All,
> 
> Hey guys.... I'm wondering if there's a timeline for incorporating the
> Objective-C 2.0 changes from Apple into the trunk of GCC.
> 
> If not, I would like to know what the GNUstep project can do to help
> make this happen.

No.  But you just have to take patches from Apple's GCC, polish them and
send them.

Do Apple's changes rely on the NeXT runtime?  If not, the job would be
easier.

Paolo

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Gregory Casamento]

As far as I'm aware apple has an assignment for changes to gcc, so it
should be possible to pull them in.

On Tuesday, July 21, 2009,  <stevenb.gcc@gmail.com> wrote:
> Op 21 jul. 2009 21:50 schreef Paolo Bonzini <bonzini@gnu.org>:
>> Gregory Casamento wrote:
>>
>> > Hey guys.... I'm wondering if there's a timeline for incorporating the
>> > Objective-C 2.0 changes from Apple into the trunk of GCC.
>> >
>> > If not, I would like to know what the GNUstep project can do to help
>> > make this happen.
>>
>> No.  But you just have to take patches from Apple's GCC, polish them and
>> send them.
>>
>> Do Apple's changes rely on the NeXT runtime?  If not, the job would be
>> easier.
>
> Do Apple's changes have the FSF as copyright holder?  If not, the job would be impossible.
>
> Ciao!
> Steven

-- 
Gregory Casamento
Open Logic Corporation, Principal Consultant
## GNUstep Chief Maintainer
yahoo/skype: greg_casamento, aol: gjcasa
(240)274-9630 (Cell), (301)362-9640 (Home)

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Paolo Bonzini]

Gregory Casamento wrote:
> As far as I'm aware apple has an assignment for changes to gcc, so it
> should be possible to pull them in.

You're not forced to assign changes that you do not want to assign.

Paolo

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Richard Guenther]

On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Paolo Bonzini<bonzini@gnu.org> wrote:
> Gregory Casamento wrote:
>> As far as I'm aware apple has an assignment for changes to gcc, so it
>> should be possible to pull them in.
>
> You're not forced to assign changes that you do not want to assign.

I don't understand.  Yes you are forced to assign copyright to the FSF
for changes you contribute to FSF GCC.  You are of course not forced
to do this for your own forks of GCC.

Richard.

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Paolo Bonzini]

On 07/22/2009 10:57 AM, Richard Guenther wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Paolo Bonzini<bonzini@gnu.org>  wrote:
>> Gregory Casamento wrote:
>>> As far as I'm aware apple has an assignment for changes to gcc, so it
>>> should be possible to pull them in.
>> You're not forced to assign changes that you do not want to assign.
>
> I don't understand.  Yes you are forced to assign copyright to the FSF
> for changes you contribute to FSF GCC.  You are of course not forced
> to do this for your own forks of GCC.

Yeah, if Apple didn't send the code to FSF GCC, the fact that Apple has 
an assignment does not count.  They're not forced to assign changes that 
they do not want to assign -- as long as they keep the changes local, 
which they did for Objective C 2.0.  The only way to know, would be to 
ask someone at Apple.

Paolo

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Chris Lattner]

On Jul 22, 2009, at 2:58 AM, Paolo Bonzini wrote:
> On 07/22/2009 10:57 AM, Richard Guenther wrote:
>> On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Paolo Bonzini<bonzini@gnu.org>   
>> wrote:
>>> Gregory Casamento wrote:
>>>> As far as I'm aware apple has an assignment for changes to gcc,  
>>>> so it
>>>> should be possible to pull them in.
>>> You're not forced to assign changes that you do not want to assign.
>>
>> I don't understand.  Yes you are forced to assign copyright to the  
>> FSF
>> for changes you contribute to FSF GCC.  You are of course not forced
>> to do this for your own forks of GCC.
>
> Yeah, if Apple didn't send the code to FSF GCC, the fact that Apple  
> has an assignment does not count.  They're not forced to assign  
> changes that they do not want to assign -- as long as they keep the  
> changes local, which they did for Objective C 2.0.  The only way to  
> know, would be to ask someone at Apple.

If someone is seriously interested in merging pieces of the Apple GCC  
tree into the main FSF tree, and if there is a process in place to  
make the assignment happy, I would be happy to try to make it happen.

The major caveats are that the Apple GCC tree isn't in great shape (it  
will take some work to make the objc2 changes "submission quality"  
because they may break the gnu runtime, be overly darwin specific,  
etc), Apple engineers will not be able to help with this work, and it  
may take some time to get the approval to assign copyright of the code.

What is the process for getting a blob of code assigned to the FSF  
that is not just being committed into the tree?

-Chris 

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Paolo Bonzini]

> What is the process for getting a blob of code assigned to the FSF that
> is not just being committed into the tree?

Creating a branch on gcc.gnu.org and committing it there should be enough.

Paolo

Re: Incorporation of Objective-C 2.0 changes into GCC trunk

[Dave Korn]

Gregory Casamento wrote:

> If not, I would like to know what the GNUstep project can do to help
> make this happen.

  Persuade Apple to de-embargo their engineers from showing their faces in
public round here?(*)

  At least from the outside, it appears that Apple(**) is simply not
interested in contributing to GCC.

    cheers,
      DaveK
-- 
(*)  - http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2008-02/msg00523.html
(**) - Corporately, I'm sure there will be individuals within the organisation
who disagree with the policy but whose hands are tied.