And it definitely would not exist without Ritchie, Thompson, Tannenbaum and
a whole slew of others who remain largely anonymous. And let's not forget
the old Multics crew who provided a lot of the ideas that went into Unix. So
maybe we should just all agree that a great number of people deserve credit;
many more than can easily be named. Besides, if you really want to make
something *free*, you shouldn't be insisting on credit for it; that would
mean that it isn't really free.
> I know of no other full, free compiler which runs on a variety of popular
> processors (MIPS, Sparc, NSxxx, i386, M68xxx, some more). (which one were
> you thinking off?)
I find the compiler discussion more interesting. There's at least one
commercial compiler that runs on Linux (x86 anyway); i.e., the Portland
Group package. However, it is a bit pricey and I'm not sure that I would
want to use it to compile the kernel with - I don't even know if it can
handle it - since I have a perfectly normal piece of C code that compiles
and runs fine when using gcc but results in an executable that core dumps
immediately when using the PG C compiler.
However, with RedHat now partnering with Metrowerks, I wonder what's going
to happen. It is my understanding - and I welcome arguments to the
contrary - that Metrowerks produces some fairly nice development tools to go
with their compilers. If RedHat makes sure that the Metrowerks compiler
*will* compile the Linux kernel (not the first one which is just the tools
plus gcc but the Professional version which is ``native" - I take that to
mean not gcc based) and if they sell it for a reasonable price, then it
could make for an interesting alternative. Hey, when the price drops to $99
or so - and it likely will - I for one will buy it if it is the best there
is.
If Linux becomes as common as Windows, the software prices will be
comparable. And most people - including me - aren't purists; we will buy the
software if it is good and offered at a reasonable price. And commercial
compilers will be used to generate free software too.
Thanks, Torben
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