Hi guys
There is some FUD regarding GCC upgrades and I don't have the proper
knowledge to write a correct document on GCC upgrades. As you are currently
aware, we have a GCC upgrade guide [1], but it has seen its last update in
2008. Since then, things have undoubtedly changed.
What I can find on GCC upgrades and their apparent need (or no-need) for
rebuilding stuff:
- Since 3.4.0/4.1.0, the C++ ABI is forward-compatible, so rebuilds from
that version onwards should not be needed
- The fix_libtool_files.sh command is now part of the toolchain eclass, so
doesn't need to be ran by users anymore
The only thing I fail to find out is why libtool needs to be rebuild (if it
still needs to be). There are some sources telling it always needs to be
rebuild (RedHat seems to fix the two togather at all times: gcc and
libtool), others state that this is similar towards the C++ ABI, so not
needed anymore since 3.4.0/4.1.0.
I revamped the GCC Upgrade guide [2] with what I think is correct nowadays,
but this is, to be honest, a bit out of my league. That's why I'm asking
you, development community at large, to give some feedback on this, allowing
the GDP to get rid of the FUD once and for all ;-)
Wkr,
Sven Vermeulen
[1] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gcc-upgrading.xml
[2] http://dev.gentoo.org/~swift/docs/previews/gcc-upgrading.xml
