Bug#803474: src:systemd: Please use the default linker instead of gold on sparc64

[Michael Biebl]

Am 05.11.2015 um 16:27 schrieb John Paul Adrian Glaubitz:
> On 11/05/2015 03:46 PM, Michael Biebl wrote:
>> I see that other packages use gold as well (e.g.
>> qtbase-opensource-src), codesearch.d.n turns up quite a few more. 
>> Are you sure that this only affects systemd?
> 
> So far, yes.

How do you know that? Have you actually checked those packages (and
their rdeps)?

>> Or is this specific due to the usage of LTO or the usage of other 
>> specific features? If so, have you checked which one that are and
>> if that affects other packages as well?
> 
> Probably. I'm not too much an experts when it comes to binutils. I
> know someone who is though.

Ok, knowing what the actual problem is would certainly be helpful in
deciding what should be done.

At least personally I like to understand the issue before applying a
workaround.


>>> Really, this workaround is currently the only chance we have to
>>> be able to continue working on the ports.
> 
>> I understand that fixing binutils might take some time. Then again,
>> the gold linker on sparc has been known broken for over a year, so
>> I don't quite get the sudden hurry (i.e. escalating this within 3
>> days without giving us a chance to respond, especiallly since I've
>> been away over the weekend. I have to say I'm quite disturbed by
>> that. But let's leave it at that)
> 
> The hurry can be explained easily. As I explained before, systemd
> Debian was carrying a patch which worked around the issue and
> apparently, you, the systemd maintainers assumed this patch was
> necessary for gudev only and hence it was removed when gudev was
> split out of the systemd package. Around that time, packages started
> to fail to build and I couldn't explain why. It was not until
> recently when Jose Marchesi asked me to have systemd link with
> gold that I discovered that the reason it problem occurred so
> abruptly was the fact that the patch was dropped recently.

As recently as May 2015, so it's been broken for almost half a year.
So no, I don't quite understand the way this was approached from your
side. But as said, let's leave it at that.

>> I'm also not convinced yet that applying this workaround to systemd
>> is the only available option and the correct one we should use.
> 
> Well, if you have a better plan which does not involve requiring
> to fix binutils over night, please go ahead. I'd be more than
> curious to know.

Depending on what actually is broken, a workaround could also be to make
that functionality in gold on sparc a nop instead of generating broken code.

Don't you think we should first understand what is broken and what the
impact is?


>> If other packages are affected as well, it sounds to me that we
>> should rather add a workaround to binutils until a proper solution
>> has been developed.
> 
> No other packages are directly affected.

Again, how do you know that?

>> If it's only systemd, by all means let's merge that patch. But so
>> far, I haven't seen a thorough assessment of this issue which would
>> have convinced me in that direction. We certainly don't want to
>> obstruct any efforts you do on the sparc port, but let's first be
>> certain that this workaround is the proper one.
> 
> It's the work-around suggested by one of the SPARC developers at Oracle.
> So ...

So, this doesn't necessarily mean other packages aren't affected.
Depending on how many are, my answer will be different.

Michael
-- 
Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the
universe are pointed away from Earth?

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