Re: Where is GDB going

[Quality Quorum <qqi at world dot std dot com>]

On Fri, 23 Feb 2001, Andrew Cagney wrote:

> Just FYI,
> 
> I'm currently aware of three significant and ongoing architectural
> developments in GDB (I use the word `ongoing' loosely as like any work
> it suffer from fits and starts):
> 
> 	o	mi/libgdb/cli
> 
> 		An interface for building better
> 		and more robust GUIs.  If is signficant
> 		as it involves separating the CLI
> 		from the core of GDB.
> 
> 	o	multi-arch
> 
> 		Allowing GDB to debug more complex
> 		targets containing several architectures
> 
> 	o	async/event-loop
> 
> 		Eliminating the assumption that
> 		the world stops when the target
> 
> Beyond that I also know of some more localized development (C++
> cleanup/revamp, harvard/segment architecture discussion, ...).

I am playing with (1) the idea of rewriting it in C++, the thing got grown
complex enough to justify these efforts (I suppose it may provide a
good pay off into multi-arch) and (2) with the idea of separating native
and cross-debugging in the process, while preserving the common interface
and structure.

However, I had a short but unpleasant private discussion with RMS about
GPL 3.0 from which I concluded (1) that it may preclude proprietary
software debugging with future versions of GDB by closing protocol linking
loophole in GPL 2.0, (2) that it will be for sure impossible (and it is 
may be illegal right now) to link gdb with proprietary software driving
various hardware probes. So, I am staying quite discuraged from working in
this area at all. 

> 
> 	Andrew
> 

Thanks,

Aleksey