Samuel Smythe wrote:
It is well-known that Apple has been a significant provider of GCC enhancements.
But it is also probably now well-known that they have opted to drop
the PPC architecture in favor of an x86-based architecture.
Will Apple continue to contribute to the PPC-related componentry of GCC,
or will such contributions be phased out as the transition is made to the
x86-based systems?
We don't mind. I bought an Apple G4 PowerBook because it offered me a
relatively cheap way to get a 32 bit, big endian machine. The first
thing I did after receiving it is wiping out OS X and installing a real
operating system, i.e., Debian.
A big endian system is indispensible if you are a compiler writer,
because little endian hardware hides too many programmer errors; At the
previous GCC Summit even the head of the Intel compiler group agreed
with me on this and pointed out that the Itanium can be run in big
endian mode.
In turn, will Apple be providing more x86-related contributions to GCC?
Well, they could do all they might. I'm just waiting for IBM coming
forward with a Linux PowerPC64 laptop, so that I can continue to use big
endian hardware.
--
Toon Moene - e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - phone: +31 346 214290
Saturnushof 14, 3738 XG Maartensdijk, The Netherlands
A maintainer of GNU Fortran 95: http://gcc.gnu.org/fortran/
Looking for a job: Work from home or at a customer site; HPC, (GNU)
Fortran & C
