Re: Bootstrap Tarballs for alpha-linux Targets

[Nils Gillmann]

I have conflicted opinions about this.

Curiosity, which is a big motivation for many project I work on, wants
to support alpha.
The reality is though, that any operating system needs to be able to
provide support. If it's not intrinsic support from enthusiasts about
a certain platform, we need to do it. It is difficult with quasi dead
platforms. 
The resources Guix itself currently takes are difficult for devices
with low specs.
I myself am not again alpha. Is it unrealistic? Of course. Might it be
of use for some people? Yes.

It would be interesting to support alpha, sparc/64, etc, but that is
just me.

The final call is for Ludovic and Ricardo.

Vincent Weisner transcribed 5.0K bytes:
> Ludo,
> 
> 
> 
> No additional patches were needed and no, I don't have any DEC Alpha hardware.
> 
> 
> 
> If you rather not include an Alpha port, then why does the code state 
> "alpha-linux" in /gnu/packages/bootstrapping.scm?
> 
> 
> On Aug 19, 2018, at 12:35 PM, address@hidden wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello Vincent,
> 
> Vincent Weisner <address@hidden> skribis:
> 
> 
> On Aug 10, 2018, at 05:10 AM, Vincent Weisner <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> 
> I have cross-compiled the GNU Guix bootstrap tarballs for DEC Alpha systems 
> running GNU/Linux. I don't own an Alpha system, so I didn't get to test them.
> The SHA256 Checksum for the uploaded files are:
> 53d990843c2c64f6593d0ae8262dca758910da6783b3949ef54677a87c3c5cd8 - 
> binutils-static-stripped-2.28-alpha-linux-gnu.tar.xz
> 2ab011049b50f4ce04952e3fab7c6020da71e13b454cceb75f6fbd774b8973d2 - 
> gcc-stripped-5.4.0-alpha-linux-gnu.tar.xz
> 6c36b8179fee99e942b7bdf49e523d4f46aa23cbbd9bc818364239fc67b3fe6c - 
> glibc-stripped-2.25-alpha-linux-gnu.tar.xz
> 8668d3943ab2045a061f442954964fcb07fed2136edb08ecf9ef561ddb120ddf - 
> guile-static-stripped-2.2.2-alpha-linux-gnu.tar.xz
> 7c1cdc3b63794315040d77b4d019793444b9496b9843bc87d2ed70dc0435731b - 
> static-binaries-0-alpha-linux-gnu.tar.xz
> 
> 
> I will upload the bootstrap GCC tarball in a reply as I maxed out my 
> attachment space.
> 
> Nice! Did cross-compilation work without any additional patches?
> Do you have hardware to run it on?
> 
> Since Alpha CPUs are (unfortunately) no longer produced, I would rather
> not include the Alpha port in Guix proper. You would have to maintain
> your own branch of Guix if you plan to use it regularly.
> 
> Thanks,
> Ludo’.