Re: [avr-libc-dev] [bug #28837] using PSTR with c++ produces warnings

[David A. Mellis]

Thanks for the message, Eric.

As you say, we don't really have enough time to properly investigate the 
toolchain and bugs.  I've had various reports of various Arduino functions 
breaking with newer versions of binutils (2.21, I believe) and haven't had the 
resources to track those reports down to the underlying toolchain bugs or 
changes.  

Of course, I have lots of respect and appreciation for all the work you guys 
do.  And I realize that vague reports of problems don't help you fix them.  
That's why in general I've just gone with whatever Eric packages up in WinAVR 
as the toolchain for Arduino.  We're eagerly awaiting the next release.  :)

David

On Oct 31, 2011, at 9:02 AM, Weddington, Eric wrote:

> 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: address@hidden
>> [mailto:address@hidden On
>> Behalf Of Joerg Wunsch
>> Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2011 4:25 PM
>> To: address@hidden
>> Subject: Re: [avr-libc-dev] [bug #28837] using PSTR with c++ produces
>> warnings
>> 
>> As Volker Kuhlmann wrote:
>> 
>>>> Just because someone at Arduino thinks ``4.4.x and 4.5.x seem to
> have
>>>> various problems'' is enough to make you not using them?
>>> 
>>> Yes, definitely. Why?
>>> 
>>> I have no other information and know nothing about the avr-gcc
> specific
>>> issues in gcc.
>> 
>> The least you could expect them is to explicitly mention *which*
>> problems they have found, either (and preferrably) as references to
>> GCC bug reports, or at least, as detailed descriptions about the
>> problems someone encountered.
>> 
>> Without that, it's just babbling.  FUD.  (Fear, uncertainty, and
>> doubt.)  I could tell you as well about GCC 4.3.x having ``several
>> problems'', and by digging through the GCC bug database, I could
>> probably even found this sentences with some substance. ;-)
>> 
> 
> Volker, Joerg,
> 
> To be fair, the Arduino project is like any other open source project in
> that they are chronically short of help and they can only focus on there
> area of expertise.
> 
> I've talked quite a bit with one of the co-founders of the project, met
> the whole team, and various other people who help here and there on the
> Arduino project.
> 
> The Arduino project focuses on a number of things:
> - Their hardware design
> - Their IDE / language
> - Their support libraries
> 
> What they don't do is the toolchain themselves. Two reasons why Arduino
> was able to easily get off the ground is the fact that the AVR
> microcontroller itself is easy to use, and the fact that there is a
> free/open source toolchain (GCC) for the AVR. It also helped that WinAVR
> existed as they just dropped the WinAVR toolchain in their installer
> package for the Windows platform.
> 
> So please realize that they are not *trying* to spread FUD. They just
> don't have the resources to tackle the toolchain issues in-depth.
> 
> The last thing to remember is that they (Arduino) exercise different
> areas of the toolchain then most other people. Most users of the AVR GCC
> toolchain use the C compiler. The Arduino community is the first large
> set of users that use the C++ compiler for the AVR, which admittedly,
> hasn't gotten much attention previously.
> 
> HTH,
> Eric Weddington
> 
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