Severn gcc version vs. kernel

[Allen Kistler]

I recently tried some of the Severn files, including the kernel. I
hit a bit of a snag when it came time to compile the modules for
VMware 4. VMware pointed out that the gcc version installed was
different from the one used to compile the kernel. (For the curious,
the Severn kernel was compiled with gcc 3.2.3. RH9 provided gcc
3.2.2. Severn provides 3.3.1.)

Yes, I know I could rebuild the kernel rpm using gcc 3.3.1.
Yes, I also noticed that there's an rpm called gcc32, which is
probably gcc 3.2.something (probably even 3.2.3).

Mostly I'm wondering if anyone has any insight as to why RH would
compile a kernel with one version of gcc and ship (sort of, it is a
beta release, after all) a different version of gcc itself.

I'm not looking for anything complicated or deep. If you've seen
something fairly simple somewhere else (like the mailing lists, which
I admit I haven't checked), what is it? I haven't found anything in
Usenet on point.

Thanks in advance.

[William Hooper]

"Allen Kistler" <ackistler@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9e3d4fab.0309292225.7b0cbc4d@posting.google.c om...
> Mostly I'm wondering if anyone has any insight as to why RH would
> compile a kernel with one version of gcc and ship (sort of, it is a
> beta release, after all) a different version of gcc itself.
>
> I'm not looking for anything complicated or deep. If you've seen
> something fairly simple somewhere else (like the mailing lists, which
> I admit I haven't checked), what is it? I haven't found anything in
> Usenet on point.

Care of Alan Cox:
<quote>
Gcc 3.3 has an improved parser which rejects some borderline bogus
constructs that gcc 3.2 permitted. The kernel like several other projects
found it had a few of them. Most notably it used to accept

printk("hello
there\n");

now it correctly requires

printk("hello" \
"there\n");

The 2.4.22 kernel should have all these dealt with, and its very much a
case of a stricter compiler forcing us to clean up mess.
</quote>

http://www.redhat.com/archives/rhl-beta-list/2003-July/msg00094.html

--
William Hooper

It's sad that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of
wild dogs.