gcc 2 survey

gcc 2 survey

[Michael Elizabeth Chastain]

gcc 2 survey
2003-09-19
mec@shout.net

Here is a bunch of data that I researched on platforms that still
use gcc 2.

At this time I am continuing to test with gcc 2.95.3, and I recommend that
we keep fixing any gdb regressions that happen with gcc 2.95.3.

Michael C

. Three-line summary

  gcc 2: openbsd, netbsd, freebsd, debian, lindows, xandros, lycoris, apple, sco
  gcc 3: red hat, mandrake, suse, slackware, conectiva, knoppix, gentoo
  gcc 3: hurd, cygwin

. FSF Tarballs
  . ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gcc
    2001-03-22  gcc-2.95.3.tar.gz
    2001-06-18  gcc-3.0.tar.gz
    2001-08-20  gcc-3.0.1.tar.gz
    2001-10-24  gcc-3.0.2.tar.gz
    2001-12-20  gcc-3.0.3.tar.gz
    2002-02-21  gcc-3.0.4.tar.gz
    2002-05-15  gcc-3.1.tar.gz
    2002-07-26  gcc-3.1.1.tar.gz
    2002-08-15  gcc-3.2.tar.gz
    2002-11-19  gcc-3.2.1.tar.gz
    2003-02-05  gcc-3.2.2.tar.gz
    2003-04-23  gcc-3.2.3.tar.gz
    2003-05-14  gcc-3.3.tar.gz
    2003-08-04  gcc-3.3.1.tar.gz

. Linux

  Data from http://www.distrowatch.com .
  20 most popular page hits in the month ending 2003-09-12.

  Each line shows the earliest version which has gcc 3.
  Earlier is better.

    2002-09-25  Mandrake       9.0       gcc 3.2
    2002-09-30  Red Hat        8         gcc 3.2
    2002-09-30  SuSE           8.1       gcc 3.2
    2003-02-20  Byzantine      20030220  gcc 3.2
    2003-03-05  Yoper          1.0       gcc 3.2.2
    2003-03-18  Slackware      9.0       gcc 3.2.2
    2003-04-16  Kurumin        1.3       gcc 3.2.3pre8
    2003-05-01  Libranet       2.8       gcc 3.2.3pre6
    2003-05-16  Morphix        0.3-6     gcc 3.2.3
    2003-07-26  Knoppix        3.2       gcc 3.2.3
    2003-08-05  Gentoo         1.4       gcc 3.2.3
    2003-08-19  Turbo Linux    9W        gcc 3.3.1

  Distros still on gcc 2.
  Each line shows the most recent release.

    2002-12-15  Debian         3.0r1     gcc 2.95.4
    2003-03-17  Vector         3.2soho   gcc 2.95.3
    2003-06-24  Lindows        4.0       gcc 2.95.4
    2003-07-28  Xandros        1.1       gcc 2.95.4
    2003-08-24  Lycoris        rc1       gcc 2.95.3
    2003-09-11  Damn Small     0.4.7     gcc 2.95.4

  No gcc version available: slackware live; movix.

  . Debian GNU/Linux
    . http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2003/debian-devel-announce-200308/msg00010.html
      . anthony towns announces a goal of "stable" at 2003-12-01
    . http://lists.debian.org/debian-release-0306/msg00004.html
      . debian sarge has gcc 3.3
      . not frozen yet as of 2003-06-17
      . 4-6 months to start of freeze
      . 6-12 months of freeze
    . http://people.debian.org/~willy/gcc-transition/
      . as of 2003-09-12, 103 packages (92 source) compiled with g++ 2.95

. BSD

  . FreeBSD 5
    . http://www.freebsd.org/releases/5.0R/relnotes.html
      . released 2003-01
      . all platforms updated to gcc 3.2.1
      . many people waiting for 5.1 before upgrading from 4.X.
    . http://www.freebsd.org/releases/5.1R/relnotes.html
      . released 2003-06-09
      . all platforms updated to gcc 3.2.2.
      . 5-STABLE not created yet, estimated time about 5.2

  . NetBSD 1.6
    . http://www.netbsd.org/Releases/formal-1.6/NetBSD-1.6.html
      . released 2002-09-14
      . gcc 2.95.3
      . NetBSD 1.6.1 is a point release; no new gcc
    . http://www.freebsdforums.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=731
      . matthew green, 2003-03-01, 'updates of gdb and gcc will follow'
    . http://news.gw.com/netbsd.tech.toolchain/3361
      . matthew green, 2003-07-27, 'gcc3 update goes well'
    . http://www.bsdforums.org/forums/showthread.php?threadid=13907
      . matthew green, 2003-08-31, 'ready to switch sparc, sparc64, i386 & alpha'

  . OpenBSD 3.3
    .  http://www.sigmasoft.com/~openbsd/archive/openbsd-announce/200304/msg00004.html
      . released 2003-05-01
      . gcc 2.95.3 + propolice
    . http://www.openbsd.org/portsplus/200302.html
      . "updated egcs-stable to version gcc-3.2.2 [espie 2003-02-15]"
      . but egcs is not the system compiler
      . system compiler is still 2.95.3 based
    . http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2003-07/msg00652.html
      . marc espie says:
	. NetBSD cross-compiles but OpenBSD native compiles
	. wants same compiler across all arches
	. toolchain speed issues
	. 1% increase in kernel size would kill them
	. they have branch enhancements
	  . propolice
	  . don't use binutils ld.so because of license
	  . linker support for W^X

. Apple
    . http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb/2003-09/msg00241.html
    . http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb/2003-09/msg00245.html
      . jim ingham, 2003-09-19:
	. gcc 2 still used for kernel extensions
	. kernel extensions can be debugged with gdb
	. does not know how much longer this will last

. Hurd
  . http://packages.debian.org/crosshurd
    . CrossHurd 1.3 date 2003-07-01 refers to gcc-3.2-base, gcc-3.3-base

. Cygwin
  . http://cygwin.com/packages
    . gcc 3.2-3 as of 2002-11-14

. SCO
  . http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb/2003-05/msg00126.html
    . kean johnston says:
      . still on gcc 2.95.3
      . planning to transition when gcc 3.4 comes out

Re: gcc 2 survey

[Christopher Faylor]

On Fri, Sep 19, 2003 at 06:10:47PM -0400, Michael Elizabeth Chastain wrote:
>gcc 2 survey
>2003-09-19
>mec@shout.net
>
>Here is a bunch of data that I researched on platforms that still
>use gcc 2.
>
>At this time I am continuing to test with gcc 2.95.3, and I recommend that
>we keep fixing any gdb regressions that happen with gcc 2.95.3.
>
>Michael C
>
>. Three-line summary
>
>  gcc 2: openbsd, netbsd, freebsd, debian, lindows, xandros, lycoris, apple, sco
>  gcc 3: red hat, mandrake, suse, slackware, conectiva, knoppix, gentoo
>  gcc 3: hurd, cygwin

Cygwin falls into this list, too.  It has a separate gcc2 package.

cgf

Re: gcc 2 survey

[Jason Molenda]

Hi Michael,


On Sep 19, 2003, at 3:10 PM, Michael Elizabeth Chastain wrote:

> . Three-line summary
>
>   gcc 2: openbsd, netbsd, freebsd, debian, lindows, xandros, lycoris, 
> apple, sco
>   gcc 3: red hat, mandrake, suse, slackware, conectiva, knoppix, gentoo
>   gcc 3: hurd, cygwin


Just to clarify the MacOS X platform a bit.

MacOS X 10.1, released around September 2001, uses gcc 2.95.2.

MacOS X 10.2, released around September 2002, uses gcc 3.1, and gcc 
2.95.2 is easily available to the developers.

MacOS X 10.3, which will be released some time this calendar year, uses 
gcc 3.3, with gcc 3.1 easily available to developers.  gcc 2.95.2 is 
also available as an optional install; developers targetting older 
versions of MacOS X will be using it, but we expect few to use it for 
current and future development.

We often ship multiple versions of the compiler because our customers 
may have legacy code that does not compile under the newer compiler 
versions (particularly with large C++ code bases).  But for the most 
part, we're concentrating all of our development and support efforts to 
gcc 3.3, and to a lesser extent, gcc 3.1.

And, of course, everything we do is in stabs.

Jason