Re: gcc on Irix 6.5

[Bruno Haible]

Eric Blake wrote:
> >     but this is due to a gcc bug: If floorl(-0.7L) is executed before
> >     floorl(-1.0L), and both calls are compiled by gcc - regardless whether
> >     in the same function, in different functions, or even in different 
> > compilation
> >     units -, then the floorl(-1.0L) call returns -2L instead of -1L. If at 
> > least one
> >     of the calls is in a compilation unit compiled by cc, no problem.
> 
> What a strange bug!  Obviously, older gcc on Irix is not the best option;

Well, the newer gcc 3.4.3 that you are using is also having problems - that the 
older
one did not have:
../../gltests/test-frexpl.c:144: assertion failed
../../gltests/test-ldexpl.c:130: assertion failed

> maybe autoconf should default to cc on this platform, rather than always
> favoring gcc.

I disagree. I've built many packages with that compiler on IRIX, without 
problems.
The problem is more with the "long double" area - which is not much used by 
other
program, hence less reliable - than with gcc. Any kind of rarely used features, 
be
it global register variables, OpenMP support, or similar, has more bugs than 
average
features.

> Should we update install.texi (and thus INSTALL) to mention 
> that on Irix, if gcc doesn't work, to try cc?

Certainly not. It would make people doubt of gcc's quality. And gcc - especially
since version 4.0 - is of outstanding quality and reliability.

Bruno