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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