[ECOS] Re: compiler builds.

[Bart Veer <bartv@cygnus.co.uk>]

>>>>> "Brendan" == Brendan Simon <brendan@dgs.monash.edu.au> writes:

    Brendan> I was reading the document and it says to download the
    Brendan> ecos software tools and to compile them. I already have
    Brendan> built an egcs-1.1.2 cross-compiler that targets
    Brendan> powerpc-eabi. Can I use this. I don't see any reasons why
    Brendan> not. Extra libraries and startup code for board support
    Brendan> packages can be placed in appropriate directories. Please
    Brendan> advise on whether I MUST use the eCos compilers (gcc
    Brendan> variants I assume).

    Brendan> I'd like to use Insight as my debugger. I am in the
    Brendan> process of building this for a powerpc-eabi target and
    Brendan> can see no reasons why this should not work. Any
    Brendan> comments?

In theory it should be possible to take the various toolchain
components from the sourceware site and combine them to get a set of
tools usable with eCos. The main components are gcc 2.95 (not any
earlier releases), gdb 4.18, and binutils. It should be possible to
add Insight to that list as well.

In practice there are no guarantees that this will work. gcc, gdb etc.
are all separate projects undergoing rapid development, and we do not
continually test all of the toolchain components for eCos
compatibility. The toolchain download that is available via the eCos
web pages has been specifically tested for eCos and is known to work.

So if people want a solid and tested toolchain than the eCos one is
appropriate. If you want the very latest compiler optimizations etc.
then feel free to try out the latest releases of everything. It is
possible that everything will just work for any given target. It is
also possible that there may be a few problems that you will need to
sort out.

Bart Veer // eCos net maintainer