[TUHS] Compilers (was Re: Any UNIX With No C In Userland?)

[Dan Cross]

On Sun, Mar 2, 2025 at 11:51 AM Doug McIntyre <merlyn at geeks.org> wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 01, 2025 at 06:46:46PM -0500, Dan Cross wrote:
> > On Sat, Mar 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM Warner Losh <imp at bsdimp.com> wrote:
> >> Yes. I think so. But I also think that said C compiler wasn't adequate to bootstrap gcc or that there were extra steps / workarounds needed to do that. This was during the K&R -> ANSI cutover that Sun did this as well, and the old compiler was definitely K&R only.
> >
> > It's been years but I remember bootstrapping gcc with the `cc` that
> > came with SunOS (was it in /usr/ucb? For some reason that sticks in my
> > memory). I don't recall additional workaround steps, though perhaps
> > one had to install other GNU utilities?
>
>
> In that time period, the gcc distribution had a special bootstrap
> version (older version?) of itself that was capable specificly of
> being able to be compiled by the cc that SunOS shipped with that was
> intended to compile the kernel bits shipped to configure in new limits/drivers, etc.
>
> The first stages of getting gcc compiled on SunOS was compiling that bootstrap
> version of itself, and then using that bootstraped special version of gcc to then compile
> the regular/up-to-date version of gcc.
>
> Eventually after some gcc major version, it stopped supporting/bundling this special bootstrap
> version, and dropped support for bootstrapping itself up on SunOS.

Huh. I totally believe you, but I have no memory of this. Perhaps I
blanked it out; it does sound rather traumatic.

        - Dan C.