Yavor,
On Fri, Nov 22, 2019 at 3:01 PM Yavor Doganov <yavor@gnu.org> wrote:
[ Posting this via NNTP, hope it works. ]
Ivan Vučica wrote:
> Distro packagers should also voice their opinion on whether they can
> switch to Clang (and, hopefully, libobjc2), which I'd invite them to
> do no matter what the decision is on presence of Clang-dependent
> code in GNUstep core libs.
I guess distro packagers who prefer Clang (or have no reasonable
choice as that is the default and perhaps the only compiler on their
distro) have made their choice already.
Regarding Debian, I would like to point out that I cannot speak for
them. I am neither a Debian Developer nor a Debian Maintainer. I
also cannot speak for the Debian GNUstep team as I don't hold any
special position there.
But I'll have to repeat what I've said several times to fellow team
members and other people asking me the question "Why Debian's GNUstep
doesn't switch to Clang?". The answer is simple: because there's a
lot to lose and nothing to gain.
This is patently incorrect. The gain is time and compatibility with the latest code base. I laid out the advantages and disadvantages of this in my previous posting. I entail you to look that post up, but I will put what I think the losses and the gains are here for your convenience:
Switching to clang...
What's to gain:
* Time, time spent doing things the compiler can do automatically is a waste of time and, more importantly, time NOT spent on fixing or working on the CORE problems.
* Compatibility, much of the API is moving towards using blocks. Blocks *ARE NOT SUPPORTED* on GCC and aren't likely to be anytime in the near future.
* Developers, gaining developer interest means more applications. Supporting an up to date version of the language which is in line with developer expectations helps to attract them.
* More Applications, more applications means more end users (sort of chicken and egg thing)
* Swift, Possibility of integration with open source swift. With GCC this is not possible.
What's to lose:
* Possibly a political issue with the FSF, but there are other projects which depend on languages not implemented by GCC.
* Support for older platforms which ONLY support gcc.
So, I apologize if I don't agree with the "nothing to gain" opinion.
Yours, GC
Gregory Casamento
GNUstep Lead Developer / OLC, Principal Consultant
http://www.gnustep.org - http://heronsperch.blogspot.com
http://ind.ie/phoenix/
GNUstep Lead Developer / OLC, Principal Consultant
http://www.gnustep.org - http://heronsperch.blogspot.com
http://ind.ie/phoenix/