Re: [Announcement] New Project: ASIS for GNAT

[Ludovic Brenta <ludovic.brenta@insalien.org>]

Martin Krischik <krischik@users.sourceforge.net> writes:

> I think A.S.I.S. should ultimatly be moved right into the gcc cvs tree.

Yes, and glade too.

> Creating a ASIS release for any working gnat is not that difficult. Just
> fill the "gnat" directory with the sources from the release you like and
> type "make".
> 
> Only one function has changed it's name and the version number is now stored
> inside a C source.
> 
> Only I have not got a working gcc 3.4.
> 
> BTW: The project is looking for a Debian Release Technican ;-).

I see the hint, but I'm not going to jump at your project just now.
Let me explain why.

I am working on the next stable release of Debian, code-named Sarge,
which is due out "when it's ready".  The definition of "ready", by
Debian standards, is quite conservative, and stable really means
stable.  I am trying to make sure that Sarge is an attractive and
rock-solid platform for Ada development; the platform already contains
many tools and libraries.  The foundation of this platform currently
consists of GNAT 3.15p, Glade 3.15p, ASIS 3.15p and Florist 3.15p.
Each new release of GNAT is binary-incompatible with the previous,
therefore the entire platform must migrate at the same time.  I think
you're already getting the drift.

Before I can migrate the entire platform to a new version of GNAT, I
must also have all of ASIS, Glade and Florist available and
coordinated with it.  In addition, the new GNAT itself must prove to
be an improvement over 3.15p (GCC 3.3 is not an improvement; it does
not even support tasking on powerpc, and lacks the three complementary
packages).

So, basically, I will wait until all four of GNAT, ASIS, Glade and
Florist are upgraded.  When they are upgraded, then of course I will
package them for Debian, and then I will migrate all other Ada
packages to them and there will be a new stable Ada development
platform.

At this point, I do not know if this new platform will be based on GCC
3.4 or on a "p" release made by ACT.  There is also a timing issue.
It seems that Sarge will probably be released (i.e. declared "stable")
in the second quarter of 2004.  I do not know if the new platform will
be available by then.  But you can help make that happen :)

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.