Re: Fwd: Announcing libffi 3.4.2

[Anthony Green <green@moxielogic.com>]

On Thu, Jul 1, 2021 at 6:01 AM Matthias Klose <doko@ubuntu.com> wrote:
> maybe there is some room for improvement in the release process?

Yes, there definitely is!

> When looking at 3.4.2 (after announcing 3.4),
>
>  - libtool-version says the abi version is 9, but that seems
>    to be ignored. Where is the definition of the ABI version
>    coming from?

libtool-version is not being ignored.   libtool computes the so number
to be CURRENT - AGE, and 9 - 1 = 8.
I don't pretend to understand the details of libtool and abi
versioning.  I'm just trusting that libtool is doing the right thing.

>  - README.md talks about 3.4.1, not 3.4.2.

Whoops.  That was a miss.  I suspect that there will be a 3.4.3 soon
enough where we can correct it.

> I packaged 3.4.2 for Debian (the only way I can test it on the Debian
> infrastructure), it needs manual approval for the renamed library package, so I
> can't give feedback on test results yet, and have to wait until its built.
> Tests for the Ubuntu architectures pass.

That's great.  Note that some packages that depend on libffi are
broken with the new static trampoline code.  See
https://github.com/libffi/libffi/pull/647 for details.
You might want to compile with --disable-exec-static-tramp until they
get sorted out.   This will not change the ABI.

> Do you plan to update the libffi copy within GCC to this release?   If not,
> could you give instructions, how the two copies are managed in your VCS, and
> what is the best way to merge those?

I have not been involved in gcc's libffi copy for many many years
(since well before gcj was removed).  In the past, I've promoted the
idea that it be removed from GCC, and that people who need it just
build it separately, like other external dependencies.    The main
challenge will be that the configury has diverged somewhat over the
years.

> I just saw your ping on #libffi on Freenode on Monday, however you are seldom be
> present on this channel.  Is this channel still somewhat official, Is it moved
> to Libera.Net as everything else?  If yes, maybe mention the channel on the
> libffi home page as well.

Yes, let's make a new channel elsewhere.  libera.net is as good a place as any.

Thank you for the feedback, Matthias.  I'm sorry if this release has
caused you trouble, especially on account of all of the great help
you've provided over the years.

BTW, this year marks the 25th year since the first release.... wow.

AG