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Re: [PATCH] change GLIBC PPC64/ELF2 ABI default to 2.17
- From: Roland McGrath <roland at hack dot frob dot com>
- To: "Carlos O'Donell" <carlos at redhat dot com>
- Cc: Adam Conrad <adconrad at 0c3 dot net>, munroesj at us dot ibm dot com, libc-alpha at sourceware dot org, Adhemerval Zanella <azanella at linux dot vnet dot ibm dot com>, "Joseph S. Myers" <joseph at codesourcery dot com>, Jeff Law <law at redhat dot com>
- Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:20:10 -0800 (PST)
- Subject: Re: [PATCH] change GLIBC PPC64/ELF2 ABI default to 2.17
- Authentication-results: sourceware.org; auth=none
- References: <1391008726 dot 16702 dot 105 dot camel at spokane1 dot rchland dot ibm dot com> <52E92E7C dot 1040707 at redhat dot com> <20140129172158 dot GT15976 at 0c3 dot net> <20140129181118 dot 9F85174441 at topped-with-meat dot com> <52E953C4 dot 40503 at redhat dot com>
> The problem with that policy is that it isn't what is best for our users,
> and I'm talking with both FSF and Red Hat hats on.
I don't buy this argument at all. Though I don't doubt your intentions to
consider it objectively, I think your perception is colored by your
personal involvement with distro ports based on unreleased glibc code.
But I think most everyone who has expressed any opinions is biased in a
similar fashion, so it's no surprise that I'm alone in taking the pure
position that is concerned only with the long-term effects on all the users
rather than some myopic concern with the surely tiny number of early users
of hardware that does not yet exist.
> The bickering is reduced to: Get it released upstream first.
This I agree with wholeheartedly. Red Hat, IBM, and whoever else gave
users a distribution based on unreleased glibc code without also giving
them the clear understanding that no binaries built from such a
distribution would be usable in the long run did a disservice to their
users. It's a real shame if the GNU Project does an (albeit milder)
disservice to all the future users just to mitigate the harm already done
by these for-profit actors who knowingly flouted established glibc policy.
Thanks,
Roland