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0 pointsrumanator5y ago0 comments

> Yes, and updating compilers don't prevent that at all.

You do understand that ABI backward compabitility is not ensured, don't you?

https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/manual/abi.html

Some software packages even break between distro releases.

The primary value of a distro is to provide a fixed platform that application developers and users can safely target. Risking ABI breakups just because a rare number of users wish to be on the bleeding edge without wanting to do any of the work to install their own software is something that's very hard to justify.

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jcelerier5y ago

Let me quote exactly the page you linked :

> The GNU C++ compiler, g++, has a compiler command line option to switch between various different C++ ABIs. This explicit version switch is the flag -fabi-version.

If you want to target a given distro, you -fabi-version this distro's ABI, just like you set -mmacosx-version-min on mac or set _WIN32_WINNT on windows

rumanatorOP5y ago

That's something that might be useful for one of those rare end-users who for some reason want to try to build something with a bleeding edge compiler.

That is also mind-numbingly absurd to force upon the vast majority who couldn't care less about the bleeding edge and want a stable platform to act as a fixe target without risking random ABI breakages.

I should not be forced to endure a brittle and fragile and overly-complex compilation process just because a random guy somewhere had a whim about taking a compiler out for a spin.

The world expects stability. If you wish to try out some stuff, just download the compiler and build the damn thing yourself. Hell, odds are that there's already a PPA somewhere. So where's the need to screw over everyone?

gpderetta5y ago

The ABI (the itanium ABI) is fixed, but somtimes there are bug in the compiler and gcc deviates from the abi in some corner cases. When the bug is fixed the gcc abi version is bumped which most of the time doesn't matter but if the bug fix affects you (and very often it doesn't), you can 'roll it back' by selecting a specific ABI version. Not fixing the bug is not an option because it means that GCC would be incompatible with other compilers that don't have the bug.

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jcelerier5y ago

> That is also mind-numbingly absurd to force upon the vast majority who couldn't care less about the bleeding edge and want a stable platform to act as a fixe target without risking random ABI breakages.

but why would you have "random ABI breakages" ? there isn't any issue with using e.g. VS2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 to make a windows software for instance, so what makes you think Linux would be any different if you could install a compiler version of your choosing instead of the one fixed by Ubuntu / Debian / whatever. Why is it a problem for C/C++ but not for Go / Rust / every other native-compiled language in the universe ?

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0 pointsrumanator5y ago0 comments

> Yes, and updating compilers don't prevent that at all.

You do understand that ABI backward compabitility is not ensured, don't you?

https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/manual/abi.html

Some software packages even break between distro releases.

0 comments

jcelerier5y ago

Let me quote exactly the page you linked :

> The GNU C++ compiler, g++, has a compiler command line option to switch between various different C++ ABIs. This explicit version switch is the flag -fabi-version.

If you want to target a given distro, you -fabi-version this distro's ABI, just like you set -mmacosx-version-min on mac or set _WIN32_WINNT on windows

rumanatorOP5y ago

That's something that might be useful for one of those rare end-users who for some reason want to try to build something with a bleeding edge compiler.

I should not be forced to endure a brittle and fragile and overly-complex compilation process just because a random guy somewhere had a whim about taking a compiler out for a spin.

gpderetta5y ago

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jcelerier5y ago

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