On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 08:39:55AM -0800, H.J. Lu wrote:
> -m16 is used by Linux kernel, which checks if the compiler supports -m16
> and uses it if it does. Adding gas --code16gcc check is an additional change
> in Linux kernel. Clang already supports -m16, which generates objects
> directly. Adding gas --code16gcc check doesn't help clang. Add -m16
> to gcc makes gcc and clang consistent to Linux kernel build.
Not everything clang/llvm comes up with is a good idea to follow (numerous
examples in mind, won't list them here, don't want to start a flamewar).
Given that .code16gcc is really a hack in the assembler, I really think it
would be much better idea to just let kernel use -Wa,--code16gcc for this hack.
Sure, if somebody started a full-blown 16-bit code generation support as
opposed to .code16gcc, -m16 would make sense (unless it would be a separate
backend).
Jakub
