[Linux-ia64] ld --relax should be on by default

[Linux-ia64] ld --relax should be on by default

[Jack Carter]

Users of our IA64 compiler which uses the Cygnus/GNU
linker keep hitting a link overflow problem which is
fixed by using --relax.

Why is this not on by default?

At a very minimum the linker should itself suggest
using the option when the overflow occurs.

Thanks,

Jack Carter jcarter@sgi.com

Re: [Linux-ia64] ld --relax should be on by default

[Jim Wilson]

>Why is this not on by default?

There isn't enough people or enough time to fix all known IA-64 toolchain
problems quickly.

I don't know what the ramifications are of turning this on by default.
Someone needs to investigate this.  I will do so eventually, but I have more
important problems to look at.

This problem doesn't occur very often in my experience, and is easy to work
around, so I haven't considered it an important problem, just a very annoying
one.

Jim

Re: [Linux-ia64] ld --relax should be on by default

[Jim Wilson]

Are you running into this problem using the SGI compiler with the GNU linker?
That wasn't clear from your message.  That effects the kind of solution we
need, since fixing gcc to always pass --relax to the linker isn't going to
fix your problem.

Jim

Re: [Linux-ia64] ld --relax should be on by default

[Jack Carter]

Yes, it is the SGI compiler with the GNU linker.

The request was not to have the frontend always pass the
the flag to the linker, but have the linker do the right
thing and handle these legal cases without error. Many people
with big projects invoke the linker independantly from the
rest of the compiler.

I do not know what the "relax" option does exactly, but if
it is to relax an optimization then the correct behavior
would to be to have a flag to enable the optimization
and have the relax be the default, not the other way around.
Currently the gentle user has now way of knowing what's
going on and how to get his/her code linked.

Unless of course there is something inherently wrong with
the user code that is tripping this error. I don't believe
this is the case.

If changing the behavior of the IA64 Linux targeting linker
is not an option, then at a minimum the message should suggest
using the "relax" option.

Regards,

Jack

On May 2, 12:18pm, Jim Wilson wrote:
> Subject: Re: [Linux-ia64] ld --relax should be on by default
> Are you running into this problem using the SGI compiler with the GNU linker?
> That wasn't clear from your message.  That effects the kind of solution we
> need, since fixing gcc to always pass --relax to the linker isn't going to
> fix your problem.
>
> Jim
>-- End of excerpt from Jim Wilson