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Re: m68k MacOS target support?


Stan Shebs <shebs@apple.com> wrote:

> I did three MacOS ports of GCC in all.

OK, so if I understood you correctly, you've made two m68k MacOS-targeting
compilers, one based on gcc-1.37 and the other on gcc-2.3.3, and both were only
hosted on MPW (no cross-compilation to m68k MacOS from UNIX) using the MPW
assembler and linker, right? You've never ported your own m68k MacOS assembler
or linker, right?

But what did you use for the C library? And what header files? Apple's own? Did
you make gcc grok the awful syntax they use (pascal qualifier on declarations,
the "= {word, word, ...}" thingy for inlining, etc), or did you patch them into
a saner syntax?

> All three of these versions used to be at Cygnus' ftp site, presumably
> they're still there [...]

OK, I've found your two m68k ports in ftp.cygnus.com:/pub/mac/m68k, but they
are Mac self-extracting archives as far as I could tell. Could you please
provide the sources in .tar.gz format? (After all, the GPL does require the
source to be available in a machine-readable form. For a UNIX program I'd say
this implies a UNIX-readable format. gcc is originally a UNIX program, and
while a fork can be made for a different system, I think the original UNIX-
based developers have a natural right to see the source in a UNIX-readable form
for possible integration into the mainline.)

I don't have any Macs myself and I'm not a Mac user or programmer. In fact, I
myself don't even have any personal instrest in Macs. I do, however, have a
very strong interest in the mainline toolchain m68k port, and I want it to be
able to target as many m68k systems as possible, especially when I can do it
with very little effort (I mean extra effort beyond what I would need for other
projects anyway) and when it's already done by forked versions, even if the
target system is not a personal interest of my own.

> [...] the PalmOS GCC port has little in common with the old Mac ports [...]

A little clarification is in order. If by "the PalmOS GCC port" you mean the
kludge that exists right now, I have nothing to do with that. I have a
completely different standpoint. I am concerned with the mainline toolchain
m68k port overall and things that are synergistically integrated into it. I
have no interest in kludges like the PalmOS GCC in PRC-Tools. I want to
maintain the m68k port in the mainline toolchain (and I mean really maintain
the m68k port, in its original focus on m68k UNIXes and pure embedded systems,
rather than make it MacOS- or PalmOS-centric), and integrate things like MacOS
and PalmOS with as little impact as possible.

> [...] it's not worth spending much time worrying about m68k Mac support in
> current GCC.

I value your opinion, but this decision will be ultimately up to me when I
maintain the m68k port. See above for my stand on this.

--
Michael Sokolov		Harhan Engineering Laboratory
Public Service Agent	International Free Computing Task Force
			International Engineering and Science Task Force
			615 N GOOD LATIMER EXPY STE #4
			DALLAS TX 75204-5852 USA

Phone: +1-214-824-7693 (Harhan Eng Lab office)
E-mail: msokolov@ivan.Harhan.ORG (ARPA TCP/SMTP) (UUCP coming soon)

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