http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=50507
Bug #: 50507 Summary: Huge amount of memory used while building GCC4 Classification: Unclassified Product: gcc Version: 4.5.3 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: critical Priority: P3 Component: c AssignedTo: unassig...@gcc.gnu.org ReportedBy: fzvq...@v.mintemail.com when compiling GCC 4.5.3 core (C only), at some point there's a memory requirement of more than 1 GB RAM. this happens during the link stage of some object files. after i set my virtual machine to have 1.2 GB RAM, it worked. this is a major showstopper, you can only build GCC on restricted platforms such as an ARM netbook by using swap-memory, which makes the build much slower as it already is. Additionally this swap memory is usually on flash memory device on such a system, decreasing its lifetime. for comparison, GCC 3.4.6 builds well on a virtual machine with just 128 MB RAM.