Re: GNOME vs GNU gcc & glibc

[Gleef <dzol virtual-yellow com>]

On Tue, 6 Apr 1999, Sergio Brandano wrote:
[snip]
>    When using gcc-2.7.2.3 (that is the one recommended by Linus for
>    the kernel), GNOME fails with gnome-objc-1.0.2. Spud suggested
>    to install egcsobjc, that is to use egcs instead of gcc.

My understanding is that this Linus recommendation is obsolete.  The 2.0
series of the Linux kernel inadvertantly depended on a BUG in gcc-2.7.2.3,
so it wouldn't compile reliably on gcc-2.8.x or egcs.  For the 2.1, 2.2
(and presumably the 2.3) series, the recommendation for kernel compiling
is gcc-2.8.1, but many people are using egcs or pgcc for it.


>    I also observe that GNOME is an GNU project, and the last GNU
>    compiler is gcc-2.8.1.

Being a part of the GNU project doesn't mean that we require gcc at all.
GNOME should be able to be compiled on any serious Unix C compiler.  Of
course, gcc (and related compilers like egcs) is the prefered compiler,
since it is Free Software, Very Good, and available on pretty much every
system out there.


> 2. The libraries.
> 
>    GNU glibc-2.1 does not compile using gcc. Since GNU wants gcc,
>    the glibc-2.1 libraries are not anymore on-line
>    (see ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/glibc/glibc-2.1-README).
> 
>    I am using libc 5.4.46 plus linux-threads.
>    I managed to compile glibc-2.1 with my egcs; I did not installed it
>    because the tests (posix/test) failed. I erased this too, so I do
>    not have the errors. I can recompile it and report them, if needed.

GNOME should work fine on libc5, but don't expect thread-safety or
multithreading with it.  Upgrading libc is generally considered a very
difficult task, don't bother upgrading it just for GNOME, since GNOME
should work with what you've got.


> 3. GNU gettext.
> 
>    I want gettext.

You NEED gettext.  Gettext version 0.10.35, to be precise:
  ftp://alpha.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gettext-0.10.35.tar.gz


Best of Luck,
-Gleef