Drop the K&R requirement from binutils?

[Jim Wilson]

>And how do you propose to build on hpux?  The whole reason for the limitations
>in GCC is to keep tools buildable on hpux with the bundled compiler.

HPUX problems should not prevent the GNU project from improving our tools.
It would be perfectly reasonable to drop HPUX support if it has become a
burden on us.  However, we don't need that drastic of a solution.  Binutils
could still be compiled with the unbundled hpux compiler, or you could download
a gcc binary from HP as Andrew Cagney mentioned.  Yes, this makes developing
GNU tools on HPUX systems less convenient, but that is HP's problem, not
our problem.

Only a very small and very vocal minority of gcc developers believe that
continuing to require K&R C for gcc serves any useful purpose.  At the
moment, this minority is enough to paralyze the gcc decision making process.
It would help move things along if binutils switched to ISO C90, as then
there would be less of a reason for gcc to continue using K&R C.

Jim