Re: [avr-libc-dev] avr-gcc, libgcc.a and libgcov.a

[Chris Marrin]

On May 4, 2011, at 7:57 PM, Weddington, Eric wrote:
>> ...I'm going to try to make an installer with this structure, just to see how
>> it feels. I'd be happy to work on patching the avr-libc if it seems like
>> it would be useful.
> 
> Unfortunately, no, it would just add more confusion.
> 
> The GCC compiler driver program understands that there may be multiple 
> versions of GCC installed. This program driver understands how to look for 
> the proper version for it's internal libraries, like libgcc.
> 
> But you need to understand that the C library is always a separate project. 
> Any target could use different kinds of C libraries, and there are several 
> different projects: glibc (gnu c library), newlib, uclibc, eglibc, and 
> others. Avr-libc is yet another one in that list, with one beneficial 
> difference: it's specific to the AVR target. This means that it's optimized 
> well for the AVR and it also contains other AVR specific functionality beyond 
> just the standard C library, which in our case is a good thing.
> 
> Because all of these C libraries are not a part of GCC, GCC does not 
> internally know what to do if multiple versions of the C library are 
> installed. How could it know? Which one should it link to? Especially in our 
> case, the C library is built after the compiler is already built. This is why 
> there is only one version of the C library installed at a time.

Yep, in experimenting with this I found that it didn't help anything and made 
things much more confusing. So I've reverted to the original hierarchy, which 
is the one all the tools build into naturally. But it does seem like avr-libc 
should add the compiler version (e.g., 4.5.2/) to its hierarchy like gcc does. 
Without it, it would be impossible to use multiple versions of the compiler, 
right?

Anyway, I've uploaded my installer and announced it to the list. Please let me 
know what you think.

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~Chris
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