Re: Desktops on non-x86_64 systems

[Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com>]

Hello again,

Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com> writes:

[...]

>> There is also the unpleasant option to introduce a rust binary for
>> architectures other than x86_64, because we can’t bootstrap it 
>> there.  It should be noted that this would not be unprecedented. We
>> have bootstrap binaries for some compilers such as Free Pascal or GHC.
>>
>> Adding an old version of librsvg is not obviously the better option.
>
> I agree with Ricardo here.  We've tried hard to get Rust bootstrapped,
> but that is only viable for x86_64 so far.  When bootstrapping is not
> possible, there is already a precedent of using bootstrap binaries as
> Ricardo pointed out.  So it seems that Rust falls into this category for
> now.
>
> It'd be much easier in my opinion to do so than trying to get GNOME to
> build an obsolete versions that it will reject without us going at
> length with it (not to mention the security vulnerabilities that'd need
> to be patched by our own).  With mrustc and gcc-rust improving quickly,
> hopefully that'd be a temporary solution.

I'd like to revise my position, as I got confirmation that it ought to
be possible to cross-build rustc for other architectures from our
(cleanly bootstrapped) x86_64 rustc!

Here's a transcript of my question on #mrustc (libera.chat):

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
00:36:38  apteryx | hello!  Can rustc cross-compile itself and its stdlib for another architecture?                                                                                           
00:37:13  apteryx | in other words; is it possible to have a clean bootstrapped rust (via mrustc) on all architectures although mrustc currently only support x86_64?                         
02:27:53  Mutabah | yes                                                                                                                                                                       
04:28:27 clemens3 | fyi: http://techinvest.li/tinux/#rustc                                                                                                                                    
04:28:38 clemens3 | which uses and bundles mrustc                                                                                                                                             
04:29:05 clemens3 | happy to now upstream my little changes, mostly based on the Test.. build.sh and readme.txt..
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

I haven't yet done any reading, but if Mutabah (the author of mrustc)
says it's possible, I believe it!

Cheers,

Maxim