gdb and iso-c

["Philippe De Muyter" <phdm at macqel dot be>]

Up to some years ago, gdb could be compiled by a K&R C compiler.
Now, it can not anymore, and the change seems to be deliberate.

It seems to me that the freedom of the gdb users is now restricted compared
to the previous versions because of the need of an ISO-C compiler instead
of any C compiler to compile it.

And I do not understand why the same reasons that apply to binutils and gcc
do not hold for gdb.  gdb, because it is better than the debugger you get
with your operating system, is needed to bootstrap the installation of
gas, gld, or gcc in the likely case that not everything works well
the first time.

Just my opinion

Philippe

P.S. : I am willing to check that gdb can be compiled by a K&R compiler
and submit the needed patches, if that can help.

Philippe De Muyter  phdm@macqel.be  Tel +32 2 702 90 44
Macq Electronique SA  rue de l'Aeronef 2  B-1140 Bruxelles  Fax +32 2 702 90 77