FreeBSD Removes GCC From Default Base System

An anonymous reader writes "With the LLVM/Clang migration, FreeBSD developers have now disabled building GCC and the GNU C++ standard library (libstdc++) as part of the FreeBSD base system. GCC and libstdc++ have been superseded by LLVM's Clang and libc++, respectively, on primary architectures for FreeBSD 10.0." You can still flip a few switches to get GCC, but the system compiler will still be clang. Update: 09/11 14:50 GMT by U L : Reader Noryungi noted that the What's Cooking for FreeBSD 10 page is also worth a look, adding "I have to say, this is shaping up to be a very interesting release. Bhyve [the BSD hypervisor], in particular, sounds very promising."

Comments

Re:Just one question

[BitZtream]

Clang is faster
Clang produces faster code

Really?

Yes, well known and accepted. The craptastic GCC developers have been hurting its improvements for years. They have serious control freak issues and as such, GCC has fallen well behind the curve. This isn't a new topic of discussion.

Clang has better support for C++11 than gcc

They had almost equal support for C++11 when I check earlier this year.

Almost ... is not the same, and which parts are important.

Clang's code base is much less convoluted than gcc's, and easier to work on
Clang's code base is more modular, which allows you to easily use separate stages of the compiler in other tools

I think that depends on the reader.

Only if you're a fanboy. GCC is well known to be an ugly ass code base for multiple reasons. This is an OLD discussion.

The real question is actually, why are so many people stubbornly sticking to gcc when clang has surpassed it in pretty much every way.

Because it's a good compiler. Both gcc and clang are good compilers. They didn't stop developing gcc just because clang came around and started to make progress.

GCC hasn't been a 'good' compiler unless you're only metric is 'its GPL'. clang still has a long way to go though, both are shit compared to commercial compilers, many of which make gcc and clang look absolutely pathetic in almost every way. Hell, the MS compiler is light years more advanced than GCC when it comes to the code it produces.

You're just a fanboy.