From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Simon Clubley Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: some questions on installing Ada on Linux Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2014 12:22:37 +0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Message-ID: References: Injection-Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2014 12:22:37 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: mx05.eternal-september.org; posting-host="e458ff8b81bc0c159989eb0e36c6e372"; logging-data="24367"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/mhBNqBka5O8GAWkudiHuzjlgn60sMzbk=" User-Agent: slrn/0.9.8.1 (VMS/Multinet) Cancel-Lock: sha1:M/8wncuIGG1PDvDFuxs2WeybuLo= Xref: news.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:20706 Date: 2014-07-04T12:22:37+00:00 List-Id: On 2014-07-04, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote: > > some basic questions. Goggling these is giving me hard so > I thought I ask here. > > What is the correct way to install Ada on Linux these days? > I am on Linux mint 17. > > 1) Should one install GNAT on Linux by downloading tar files from > http://libre.adacore.com (GPL 2014 edition) or use > > sudo apt-get install gnat-4.8 > > 2) Will the sudo installation install all the stuff listed at > libre.adacore.com? including GPS editor and all the other > packages? > > 3) Which is more recent, gnat-4.8 or GPL 2014 edition? > > 4) When I go to http://libre.adacore.com/download/configurations > is there a way to tell it to check everything for download, > without one having to spend 1 hr clicking on the check-box > for each item? I do not see "select all" > > It is really confusing having Ada/GNAT in 2 different places. > Why not have one place to install Ada from so it is less > confusing to users? > I'll let someone who installs the pre-packaged toolchains answer your other questions (I'm RedHat based and just build a new gcc/binutils toolchain from the FSF source when the need arises) but the core problem is that there are two distinct branches of the GNAT sources which cannot be merged due to licence conflicts. The FSF branch is the main gcc toolchain branch (C, C++, Ada, Fortran, etc) which is present in all non-Ada installations and whose licence allows you to create closed source commercial applications with it. When a non-Ada person talks about "gcc" without identifying a specific branch that's almost certainly the branch they are talking about. In addition, AdaCore have their own version of this toolchain with various Ada enhancements present in it (I don't know the details). However, the public version of this AdaCore specific version of the toolchain is strict GPL only which means you cannot create closed source applications with it. And yes, you are correct, it's probably all very confusing to a newcomer to Ada to have multiple toolchains with incompatible licences and it is just another barrier in the way of people trying out Ada. I work with the FSF branch only because of it's additional freedoms and because this branch is also the basis (for example) for Ada language application support in RTEMS. Simon. -- Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world