Re: [avr-gcc-list] AVR Gcc with AVR Tiny

[Bruce D. Lightner]

Joerg Wunsch wrote:
> As Royce Pereira wrote:
>
> > I wish there were a better way to use program ATtiny12 etc than
> > keeping 2 copies AVR-GCC. Also Bruce's method is stuck with gcc
> > 2.95. I'd like a command line option or the -mcu option to do the
> > job!
>
> I don't think Bruce's method is limited to GCC 2.95, it's only that
> this appears to be the compiler he likes best.

WARNING! [flame on] :-)

Joerg, as usual, you've got it "half right".  As David Brown has 
discovered, not surprisingly, something other than avr-gcc 2.95 *will* 
work for RAM-less AVR parts, like the ATtiny12 and the ATtiny15L.

But, you are wrong when you suggest that avr-gcc 2.95 is the compiler I 
like "best".  I use avr-gcc 2.95 on older projects because I *have to*. 
And *that* is because of the gratuitous changes to "avr-gcc" that *you* 
have made, seemingly in the name of "C-code cultural purity".

What I'm taking about is the rapid "deprecation", and then outright 
elimination of the low-level "avr-gcc" I/O constructs like sbi(), cbi(), 
in(), out(), etc.  As a result, people like me are stuck with avr-gcc 2.95 
on older projects.  That, or we've got to go in an make an amazing number 
of manual "tweaks" to working, field-tested firmware.  In the "real 
world", that means firmware bugs, wasted effort, lost dollars, and/or 
unsatisfied customers.

Why the hell do you folks remove that stuff!?  (Don't answer that...it is 
a rhetorical question!  I've heard your "excuses" here, and they "just 
don't wash!")

It is unfortunate that "hobbyists" like you, the "B-Team" gatekeepers for 
"avr-gcc", don't "get it" when it comes to the *real* users of open source 
tools like GCC.  [Boy, that was *harsh*, wasn't it!]  Upward compatibility 
is key, but clearly *you* and your cronies that decide what goes into (and 
"comes" out of) "avr-gcc" don't even understand the concept.  To no small 
measure, companies like Microsoft are where they are today because *they* 
understand why *upward compatibility* is key to running a business 
efficiently.  [I'm biting my tongue because I just said something nice 
about Microshaft!]

Don't get me wrong!  I'm not suggesting that you folks don't deserve 
boundless praise for all the hard work you have put into "avr-gcc".  It is 
a truly amazing product!  However, your "clique" clearly lacks some basic 
"common sense" where it comes to product planning and upgrades!

[flame off] :-)

Feel free to "flame away"...  I'll give you (all) the courtesy of *not* 
flaming you back! :-)

Best regards,

Bruce

--
 Bruce D. Lightner
 Lightner Engineering
 La Jolla, California
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 FAX: +1-858-551-0777
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