Re: GNAT extensions, recompilation (was Re: what DOES the GPL...)

[mw@ipx2.rz.uni-mannheim.de (Marc Wachowitz)]

Richard Kenner wrote:
> This is actually a good reason *not* to support the building of GNAT
> from sources since there is no assurance that those "important patches
> to GCC" will work properly with GNAT.

Obviously there isn't any assurance, but the decision whether such changes
are worth the risk is clearly to be made by whoever wants to apply patches,
and is reasonably confident to make at least an educated guess about this.

> Somebody who tries something like this is most assuredly on their own!

Of course; if I'd ever find what looks like a GNAT bug using such a patched
system, I'd certainly check whether it does also occur with the original
distribution, and not blindly report it to innocent developers. This should
go without saying, but I guess with users who don't even glimpse at system
documentation, you've probably minimized what you're willing to assume.

-- Marc Wachowitz <mw@ipx2.rz.uni-mannheim.de>