A/UX cc -- a ghost from the past

[Dominic Dunlop]

In article <1991Feb13.122652.14565 at helios.physics.utoronto.ca>
sysmark at physics.utoronto.ca (Mark Bartelt) writes:
> We recently got A/UX for one of our MacIIs, and were appalled to discover
> that the C compiler isn't X3J11 compliant.

Yes.  Fun, isn't it?  Surprising how many commercially-shipped UNIX
systems have yet to acknowledge the existence of X3-159.  (Indeed, if I
get enough mail saying who supports ANSI C and who does not, I'll post a
summary.  But you'll have to over-ride the Followup-To: line above if
you want to post to comp.lang.c on this topic.)

But anyway, for A/UX there are, to my knowledge, three unsatisfactory ways
out of the bind:

1.  Compile programs using a (more) compliant Macintosh C complier, and
    run them under A/UX as Macintosh applications.  However, this makes
    them ``un-UNIX-like'' -- they don't have real command lines, can't
    be used in pipelines, and so on.

2.  Download gcc for A/UX.  It's available from several places -- none
    of them sanctioned by the Free Software Foundation, as FSF does not
    like Apple.  To quote bits of John L Coolidge's message
    <1991Jan30.002109.5728 at julius.cs.uiuc.edu>:

JLC> gcc 1.39 and gas 1.38 for A/UX are now available from
JLC> wuarchive.wustl.edu.
JLC> 
JLC> Distribution: The following files should be available on
JLC> wuarchive.wustl.edu in the systems/aux directory
JLC> (/archive/systems/aux for those NFS mounting wuarchive):
JLC> 
JLC> gcc-1.39.bin.tar.Z              Binaries for gcc-1.39 and gas-1.38 on
JLC>					     A/UX 2.0
JLC> gcc-1.39.aux.diffs.Z            Patches for gcc-1.39 supporting A/UX.
JLC>                                         These should not break support
JLC>                                         for any other machine.
JLC> gcc-1.39.aux.tar.Z              Sources for gcc-1.39 with the above
JLC>                                         diffs already applied.
JLC> gas-1.38.aux.diffs.Z            Patches for gas-1.38 supporting A/UX.
JLC>                                         These should not break support
JLC>                                         for any other machine.
JLC> gas-1.38.aux.tar.Z              Sources for gas-1.38 with the above
JLC>                                         diffs already applied.

     The problem I've found with gcc is that Apple's headers and
     libraries are not ANSI-compliant, so gcc does not like them at all.
     What's the way around this, folks?  (I probably wasn't paying
     attention when it was explained.)

3.   Get a commercial or freeware ANSI to ``common usage'' C translator.
     Mindcraft, at (800) LE POSIX (really) or (415) 323 9000 can sell
     you one.  No doubt others exist.  This approach to skirting your
     problem will probably work, but, boy, does it feel tacky!
> 
> (2)  Apple folks:  Are there plans to step into the 1990s with the
> next release of A/UX?  Will a "modern" C compiler come with 2.0.1,
> or will we have to wait for 2.1 (or 3.0; or ...)?

Hmmm.  Put it this way.  Most other suppliers seem to have a greater
commitment to shipping a modern UNIX does than Apple.  On the other hand,
Apple does ship an awful lot of functionality for a single, not
unreasonable all-in price with A/UX.  Most other suppliers charge extra
for a C compilation subsystem.  Maybe you get what you pay for.  (Unless
you go to FSF?)
-- 
Dominic Dunlop