Subject: Re: bug#13472: Execution mode can hang pc when parameter refers to big file

From: Bob Friesenhahn <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:30:07 -0600 (CST)

On Tue, 29 Jan 2013, Peter Rosin wrote:

> Hi Bob,
>
> On 2013-01-17 16:29, Bob Friesenhahn wrote:
>> Everything would be easier if libtool would arrange to build a small helper
>> executable in the build tree which it can used instead of system tools.
>> Libtool already builds a native executable in some cases.  This would
>> diminish portability concerns and improve performance.  The main issue
>> with this is that for cross-builds, a system native compiler needs to be
>> used to build the helper executable.
>
> Forgive me for my ignorance, but when does libtool build something with
> the $build compiler in the cross case? The only thing I can find that
> looks like an alternative compiler is $LTCC, but that's just another
> name for the normal $host C compiler. What am I missing?

As I recall, libtool builds an execution test wrapper for a Windows 
native build.  It would (should) not do that for a cross-build. 
However, the C test wrapper was written using portable interfaces so 
it could compile under POSIX (even if we don't currently do that).

Autoconf/libtool in general does not seem to support the notion of 
supporting both a cross-compiler for the target and a native compiler 
for producing programs supporting the build, or remote/emulated 
testing of the "target".  If this hurdle was solved in a clean way, 
then many implementation opportunities would appear.

Bob
-- 
Bob Friesenhahn
[email-masked], http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen/
GraphicsMagick Maintainer,    http://www.GraphicsMagick.org/