On Sat, 15 Mar 2003 Robertdkeys@aol.com wrote: <edited>
> machines being made,   I would think it would be prudent
> logic to bring together a VAX only subset of gcc or anything
> else that is BSDish or distributable,  so that a finalized and
> optimized compiler would be available.  Make it lean, mean,
> VAX only, and usable for anything not tied to the latest sorts
<snip>

I'm in complete agreement.  I'm a "minimalist" in personality and
something about GCC and its kitchen-sink attitude has always
bothered me.   It just "feels wrong" to need a great big honkin'
compiler app & libraries to compile the kernel.
(yeah, I've got two copies of "Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition"
on my bookshelf...so my warped idea of the "ideal" kernel source code
is minimal C with no inline assembly, and a smattering of hardware
-dependant assembly files)

I would have no problem with one compiler for the just the kernel
and another compiler (GCC) for apps.

I think I'm probably sticking with the 1.5.2 NetBSD VAX code forever.
The only reason I can possibly see to upgrade is if someone gets DSSI
support working.  I've got rogue & nethack running on my VT100 ...what
more do I need?  :-)

Thomas Dzubin
Vancouver, Saskatoon, or Calgary CANADA