not specifically MacPorts but tools-related

[Ryan Schmidt]

On Nov 22, 2007, at 14:43, paul beard wrote:

> Does anyone have any experience with the gcc 3.3-fast compiler?  
> it's listed as an option on my system but gcc_select says it  
> doesn't really exist. And how do I use the compilers that MacPorts  
> builds, if I ever had a need?
>
> gcc33                          @3.3.6          lang/gcc33
> gcc34                          @3.4.6          lang/gcc34
> gcc40                          @ 4.0.4          lang/gcc40
> gcc41                          @4.1.2          lang/gcc41
> gcc42                          @4.2.2          lang/gcc42
> gcc43                          @4.3-20071116   lang/gcc43
>
>
> And does gcc_select override what's in the Portfile? For instance,  
> python 2.5 is balking with gcc 4 (the default) but builds with gcc  
> 3.3. I made the change explicit in the Portfile. Could I have saved  
> that step?

gcc_select should probably "never" be used. The system ships with a  
default compiler (gcc 3.3 on Panther, gcc 4.0 on Tiger and Leopard)  
and that should probably "never" be changed. Software that needs a  
different compiler should specify that explicitly.

Users who had used gcc_select to select a different compiler used to  
experience all sorts of weird breakage with some MacPorts software.  
Recently (1.5.2?), MacPorts was changed so that it doesn't matter  
what the user has selected with gcc_select; MacPorts will use gcc 3.3  
on Panther and 4.0 on Tiger and Leopard unless the portfile specifies  
something different using configure.compiler. This is a good thing.

Apple's gcc 3.3 only builds PowerPC binaries, so it's not suitable  
for use on Intel Macs.