gcc32 and kgcc
Hi!
I'm not using the latest Fedora Core test release (still running Red Hat
9) so what I'm going to say next is only what came to my mind after
reading the release notes, if it doesn't make sense or is already a
reality just ignore it.
In the Fedora Core test release there is a package called "gcc32" which
contains the compiler used to build the kernel. To compile third-party
modules one has to use this same compiler. However, third-party modules
do not know that they shouldn't be using CC=gcc and should instead be
using CC=gcc32. This forces users to do things manually (like for the
nvidia drivers). It seems to me that there should be some sort of
"standard" name for the compiler executable used to build the kernel in
order to simplify things.
My suggestion is a "kgcc" symlink. This "kgcc" would be sure to exist
from now on, pointing to "gcc32" now but maybe pointing to "gcc" in
the
future when all gcc 3.3 issues in the kernel are eliminated. This means
that now it would be provided in the gcc32's rpm but in the future it
could change to gcc's (there could even be a "Provides: kgcc"). If this
ends up in other distros (or as a requirement in the LSB) it would mean
that modules could simply rely on the existence of "kgcc" and be free
from this "CC=gcc32" stuff (at the very least the nvidia guys could just
add a check for kgcc to fix things on Red Hat/Fedora and never bother to
look at it again).
My rationale is that this is bound to happen again in the future and why
not fix it now, forever?
Anyway, just a thought.
--
Carlos Rodrigues
email: cer09566(a)students.fct.unl.pt
url: http://crodrigues.webhop.net