Perhaps RMS's words were taken out of context, perhaps they weren't. What I find interesting is that gcc, ld, libcpp, binutils and gdb happened to be a few of the remaining components that the GNU camp have produced for which there has been no obvious alternative. They were a necessity for just about anyone who wanted to develop, debug or simply compile open source software on any open source platform. Now that the these last holdouts are starting to loose their foothold to the llvm family of products, I won't be surprised if some of the more fervent GNU supporters get a little butt hurt. That goes double for those who originally authored the tools that are being supplanted by, some would argue, superior alternatives.
Choice is good, especially when you have the luxury of choosing between two highly trusted open source tools that are excellent at doing an incredibly difficult job. Competition is good, especially when that competition is pushing the two projects to produce better products. Putting artificial road blocks up to hamper the adoption of a highly viable alternative to what may be your preferred solution ( whatever that reason may be ) is just sad.
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Perhaps RMS's words were taken out of context, perhaps they weren't. What I find interesting is that gcc, ld, libcpp, binutils and gdb happened to be a few of the remaining components that the GNU camp have produced for which there has been no obvious alternative. They were a necessity for just about anyone who wanted to develop, debug or simply compile open source software on any open source platform. Now that the these last holdouts are starting to loose their foothold to the llvm family of products, I won't be surprised if some of the more fervent GNU supporters get a little butt hurt. That goes double for those who originally authored the tools that are being supplanted by, some would argue, superior alternatives.
Choice is good, especially when you have the luxury of choosing between two highly trusted open source tools that are excellent at doing an incredibly difficult job. Competition is good, especially when that competition is pushing the two projects to produce better products. Putting artificial road blocks up to hamper the adoption of a highly viable alternative to what may be your preferred solution ( whatever that reason may be ) is just sad.