Re: [EXTERNAL]Re: MIPS Maintainer

["Maciej W. Rozycki" <macro@linux-mips.org>]

On Tue, 8 Dec 2020, Chao-ying Fu wrote:

> >  Well, it's up to the GCC steering committee really to appoint maintainers 
> > <https://gcc.gnu.org/steering.html>, however you can post patches and help 
> > with getting reviews through right away.  There hasn't been much traffic 
> > with the MIPS port recently, but there has been some and it always helps 
> > to have someone provide input.
> 
>   I got David Edelsohn's email and replied to him yesterday.
> We have some small tweaks in GCC and can send the patches.

 Please note that GCC is in Stage 3 as from Nov 16th, so if these are bug 
fixes, then they may still qualify for inclusion with the upcoming GCC 11 
release expected May-ish next year, but you need to hurry and submit them 
ASAP.  Otherwise you'll have to wait until trunk reopens for general 
development around the time of the release.

 See: <https://gcc.gnu.org/develop.html> for the release pattern and: 
<https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc/2020-November/234246.html> for the most 
recent status (always linked from the: <https://gcc.gnu.org/> home page).

> There is a big patch for nanoMIPS that stays as-is for long time.
> It will take time to get the patch working against the latest code base,
> if the community wants to include nanoMIPS in GCC.

 I am glad this has not been lost, contrary to the fears I have expressed 
in a discussion on the MIPS/NetBSD mailing list as recently as last week.

 This is however a major new feature, so it will definitely have to wait 
for Stage 1.  You may post the patch(es) regardless, however they may not 
attract much attention as people are busy with QA for GCC 11, especially 
as in the current situation it is likely it will have to be a general 
maintainer to approve such a change.  Mind that given how it has been 
defined the nanoMIPS ISA might be considered an entirely new port/platform 
though it will depend on how the support for it has been wired into GCC (I 
don't know the details myself, I wasn't following that development).

 Also you will have to have binutils support approved and committed first, 
and given their semiannual release schedule you may well start working on 
a submission right away, so that at least you have a chance to have that 
included with the Jul 2021 release (surely you won't make it for the Jan 
2021 one).

 David has kindly explained the rest: just post the changes and have them 
reviewed, and it's up to the community to decide if a new maintainer is 
required and if so, who will that be.

 And last but not least, please make sure you are covered by a copyright 
assignment with FSF under your current employment.

  Maciej