Quoting Richard Guenther <richard.guent...@gmail.com>:
On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 6:35 PM, Terrence Miller
...
For example, as far as I know, no common Linux distribution provides a
package for any kind of GCC branch. I believe (perhaps I am too optimistic)
that some Linux distributions will package some few GCC plugins.
You keep re-iterating this (IMHO bogus) argument. I don't see how a plugin
in development is any different here - nobody will build or distribute it.
OTOH after a branch is mature it will be merged into the GCC core, so it
will be immediately available in distributed GCCs.
It is not uncommon that a user complains about some missed optimization or
pessimization that a proposed new pass might fix.
At the moment, a developer might ask the user to download the latest
experimental GCC from trunk, apply his special, even more experimental
patch to it, build and install it (which might accidentally overwrite
the stable compiler if the user has more privileges on the machine than
sysadmin experience), and then check if his code gets better.
Or the developer might ask the user to send/post his/her code, which might
need manager approval, or be outright disallowed for confidentiality reasons.
With a plugin, the developer can simply point the user at the place where
he can download the plugin for his current version, and we can get quick
feedback on the usefulness of the new optimization.
