Subject: Re: self-hosting gc
From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.net>
Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2002 09:57:15 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Message-ID: <3224397443760956@naggum.net>

* tb+usenet@becket.net (Thomas Bushnell, BSG)
| One might well need bootstrap in designing and initially building the
| system.  But now, one needs *only* GCC to build GCC, and not anything
| else.  Once one has a running system with GCC, you don't any longer
| need the pcc compilers that GCC was originally built with.

  I actually tried to argue that the same would true of a Common Lisp
  system, but that portability constraints dictate that those who want to
  port a Common Lisp compiler to System X on the Y processor should be able
  to use the portable assembler (C) instead of having to start off writing
  non-portable assembler and use the system's assembler to bootstrap from.

  Needing *only* GCC, as you say, is predicated on the existence of a
  binary for your system to begin with.  How do people port GCC to a new
  platform om which they intend to build the GNU system?  My take on this
  is that it is no less dependent on some other existing C compiler than
  the similar problem for CL compilers is.  Duane, please help.  :)

///
-- 
  In a fight against something, the fight has value, victory has none.
  In a fight for something, the fight is a loss, victory merely relief.