Re: Gentle Question

On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 1:55 AM, Kunal Deo <Kunal.Deosun.com> wrote:
>
>  Hi Stefan
>
>  Thanks for the reply. I wanted to know why GCC is not
supported for KDE4.
> So far I have compiled everything except strigi and
hope I will do that
> also.

There are several reasons:

1. For KDE4 on Linux (and even for KDE3), there are
restrictions as to
which versions of GCC are supported -- some versions of GCC
are known
to miscompile KDE.

If we start introducing additional complexities with
supporting GCC on
Solaris, then we have to reconcile the GCC version
restrictions on
Linux and FreeBSD with the GCC version restrictions on
Solaris. Noone
has the time to determine which versions of GCC are OK
across all 3
platforms.

2. GCC does not have a stable C++ ABI. GCC's C++ ABI has
changed
several times between GCC releases, and simply stating
"GCC is
supported" is misleading: only C++ ABI compatible
versions of GCC
would be supported.

3. Sun PSARC rules require that any C++ software available
in
Solaris/OpenSolaris, which exposes public API's, must be
built with
Sun Studio, and with the Sun C++ ABI Version 5.
PSARC/2002/348 (ICU)
is publicly available at opensolaris.org (the PSARC case
which
enforces this requirement).

[1] and [2] simply introduce too much complexity. [3] is a
hard
requirement: we must support Sun Studio.

You can still try to build KDE4 with GCC. However, you will
run into
problems. There will be "unsupported GCC Version"
problems, and there
is already C++ software in Solaris/OpenSolaris which has
been built
with Sun Studio, and which is used by KDE4 (examples: PCRE,
OpenEXR,
and more). Sun Studio C++ ABI and GCC C++ ABI are not
compatible with
each other. You will not be able to link the already present
C++
Solaris software with GCC.

--Stefan

-- 
Stefan Teleman
KDE e.V.
stefan.telemangmail.com
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Hi Stefan

Thanks for your quick response. I understand the reason to
support  Sun 
Studio.  But KDE offcially supports GCC 4.x series. Thats
why I've 
decided to use gcc. Moreover toolchain has been ported as
well. I've 
ported almost everything and its running fine. KDE4 is in
progress.

I did run into few problems but I've fixed that (including
compilation 
of strigi)

1. GCC 4.3 error where it doesnt compile functions like
strcpy() 
memset(), but works when you add "include
<cstring>"
2. Linking problems when you use POSIX calls which are not
system calls 
in solaris but are general library, classic example is

  sched_setscheduler() which can be fixed by using -lrt and
so on.

So far the performance has been very good. And runs quite
comfortability.

Let me know your thoughts.


Stefan Teleman wrote:
> On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 1:55 AM, Kunal Deo
<Kunal.Deosun.com> wrote:
>   
>>  Hi Stefan
>>
>>  Thanks for the reply. I wanted to know why GCC is
not supported for KDE4.
>> So far I have compiled everything except strigi and
hope I will do that
>> also.
>>     
>
> There are several reasons:
>
> 1. For KDE4 on Linux (and even for KDE3), there are
restrictions as to
> which versions of GCC are supported -- some versions of
GCC are known
> to miscompile KDE.
>
> If we start introducing additional complexities with
supporting GCC on
> Solaris, then we have to reconcile the GCC version
restrictions on
> Linux and FreeBSD with the GCC version restrictions on
Solaris. Noone
> has the time to determine which versions of GCC are OK
across all 3
> platforms.
>
> 2. GCC does not have a stable C++ ABI. GCC's C++ ABI
has changed
> several times between GCC releases, and simply stating
"GCC is
> supported" is misleading: only C++ ABI compatible
versions of GCC
> would be supported.
>
> 3. Sun PSARC rules require that any C++ software
available in
> Solaris/OpenSolaris, which exposes public API's, must
be built with
> Sun Studio, and with the Sun C++ ABI Version 5.
PSARC/2002/348 (ICU)
> is publicly available at opensolaris.org (the PSARC
case which
> enforces this requirement).
>
> [1] and [2] simply introduce too much complexity. [3]
is a hard
> requirement: we must support Sun Studio.
>
> You can still try to build KDE4 with GCC. However, you
will run into
> problems. There will be "unsupported GCC
Version" problems, and there
> is already C++ software in Solaris/OpenSolaris which
has been built
> with Sun Studio, and which is used by KDE4 (examples:
PCRE, OpenEXR,
> and more). Sun Studio C++ ABI and GCC C++ ABI are not
compatible with
> each other. You will not be able to link the already
present C++
> Solaris software with GCC.
>
> --Stefan
>
>   

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More info: http://www.kde.org/faq.h
tml.