Re: Mixing Cygnus & Gnat compilers on the same machine

["Marin David Condic" <marin.condic.auntie.spam@pacemicro.com>]

Well, the problem is that we already have a Cygnus compiler targeted to our
MIPS machine - and not being the guy who handles that particular part of the
deal I don't know if it is a "pure" MIPS thingie or if maybe there have been
some customizations for our machine. (I'm pretty sure we already have a
support contract with Cygnus on this.)

No, I'm not in a position to fire Cygnus and hire ACT and I can't dictate
that all new development be done in Ada. I was actually hoping for a
"back-door" approach to it. If GNAT and the Gnu distribution of gcc get
merged, there's some chance that the Ada front-end might at some point find
its way into the Cygnus version that we are using. (Yes, I realize it won't
happen by osmosis - I'm not totally dim! :-) Someone at Cygnus has to think
this is worth doing.) That makes it possible for me to build some clever
sideline things for the embedded computer in Ada. Suddenly, Ada becomes part
of what we do and perhaps this causes some conversions to take place in the
hearts and minds of other developers here. Its sneaky and underhanded, but
often very effective!

My observation here is that what I want to do isn't simply be able to
generate code for a MIPS processor. Ada for MIPS has been available from a
number of sources for some time. The problem is one of getting Ada
introduced into an organization and that can require specific paths be
taken.

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/


"Stephen Leake" <stephen.a.leake.1@gsfc.nasa.gov> wrote in message
news:uwv8fxl4w.fsf@gsfc.nasa.gov...

> You can use GNAT for a MIPS target now. ACT supports the Solaris host;
> I'm working on getting the Windows NT host working. It's mostly a
> matter of setting the right configuration and compiling gcc and GNAT.
>
> You won't find easy to install binaries for the MIPS target; you
> either have to get ACT support, or be willing to compile it yourself.
> Compiling gcc and GNAT is _not_ hard on host/target combinations that
> are already supported. The hardest part is forcing yourself to follow
> the instructions _exactly_, especially when applying the various
> patches needed.