Can multiple vesions of the GCC package co-exist?
Is it possible to have multiple releases of the compiler packages on the same machine? (I know the instructions say to remove the previous version).
GCC normally supports this type of configuration and can select the version using the -V switch.
Alternatively, has anyone considered controlling the compiler version in ClearCase? Storing it in a VOB would allow multiple versions to be accessible by label.
Thanks,
Barrie
# 1
> Is it possible to have multiple releases of the
> compiler packages on the same machine? (I know the
> instructions say to remove the previous version).
>
> GCC normally supports this type of configuration and
> can select the version using the -V switch.
The default gcc configuration may appear to work with -V, but it will be reusing
a number of compiler components making -V very buggy.
gcc users would need to use special flags during gcc configuration
to properly separate different versions.
On the other side we've expected such need and gccfss 4.0.3 and upcoming gccfss 4.0.4
can coexist on the same machine.
You'd need to install gccfss 4.0.3 first and then force install of gccfss 4.0.4 on top of it.
In such case the default compiler will be 4.0.4, but -V 4.0.3 flag will still work fine
and will use only 4.0.3 components.
gccfss 4.0.2 was not properly separated, so the above trick may appear to work,
but internally you may hit hard to find bugs.
We surely don't encourage such use, since such multi version configuration is not officially supported.
We're working on making gccfss relocatable, so it doesn't have to be installed only in /opt.
Will it help your case or you still prefer to access different versions of the compiler with -V flag ?
Thank you for your feedback!
> Alternatively, has anyone considered controlling the
> compiler version in ClearCase? Storing it in a VOB
> would allow multiple versions to be accessible by
> label.
It's not free.
Alex.
# 2
> We're working on making gccfss relocatable, so it
> doesn't have to be installed only in /opt.
> Will it help your case or you still prefer to access
> different versions of the compiler with -V flag ?
I guess either would work. Separate installation paths would certainly mean that there would be no confusion over the default version.
> > Alternatively, has anyone considered controlling
> > the compiler version in ClearCase? Storing it in a VOB
> > would allow multiple versions to be accessible by
> > label.
>
> It's not free.
Freeness isn't the issue. Being able to version the development tools to offer a reliably reproducible historical build is very useful.
We discussed storing it in a VOB - the only hindrance we could see is that the shared libraries (within the compiler tree) would be inaccessible outside of the ClearCase view context (which isn't practical in general use). Of course, a separate runtime libraries package would help for that :) - as would relocatable packages.
Thanks,
Barrie
