From: Michael Meissner <meissner@cygnus.com>
Subject: Re: Linux and Merced
Date: 16 Mar 1998 17:19:27 -0500

Why are you assuming that making a new backend for GCC is extrememly difficult?
For somebody who has been working on the GCC compiler for some time, it is a
couple of months at most for the initial cut (ie, not production quality, but
enough that you can start bringing up the OS).  For instance, last year, I did
3 different GCC ports to new machines amongst the other work I did.  Obviously
there are only so many people who know GCC internals in that level of detail,
but a lot of these posts seem to be hand wringing that it is impossible to port
GCC.  Until Merced is released publically, there is not much you can do anyway
(presumably there might be somebody who does the port under NDA, but that
doesn't much unless you also sign the NDA until the machine is released).

-- 
Michael Meissner, Cygnus Solutions (Massachusetts office)
4th floor, 955 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
meissner@cygnus.com,	617-354-5416 (office),	617-354-7161 (fax)