Linux vs. libio

Geoff Keating geoffk@cygnus.com
Mon Dec 20 11:58:00 GMT 1999


> From: Mark Mitchell <mark@codesourcery.com>
> Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 22:26:18 -0800

> However, libio has to change to match the new ABI.  That's a fact.
> Obviously, this will be a conditionally compiled change; the
> compiler's going to be supporting the old ABI indefinitely.  

I think you're misunderstanding the point.  You can't conditionally
_compile_ anything.  You must make sure everything will work at
runtime, out of the same objects.  This is what 'binary compatibility'
means.

> It would be nice if people can use the new ABI, if only to test it, on
> IA32 Linux.  They can't do that unless we can produce a version of
> libio that doesn't interact with the C library, since we can't expect
> everyone to go upgrading their C library.

Why not?  If the new ABI is stable (or stable enough for libio), there
is no reason not to simply tell people "gcc version foo requires glibc
version bar".

-- 
- Geoffrey Keating <geoffk@cygnus.com>


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