KJKHyperion wrote:
Steven Edwards wrote:
SEH is also patented which means its dead in the water for most free software projects.
oh dear. First: HAHAHAHAHA LOOK AT THE MAMA'S BOY, CRY BOY CRY. Then: it's not "patented" per se. Only the stack-based implementation on x86 (NO WE CANNOT USE ANOTHER IMPLEMENTATION. Really beary totally absolutely positively sure), and even then only if compiler-integrated. Since GCC doesn't use stack-based exception handling *anywhere*, not even on x86, that'd be a total non-issue. On operating systems as yet unblessed by SEH it'd be even better as a starting point: a single implementation shared by all architectures upfront. And lack of compiler support is only really a problem on non-x86, because on x86 you can use PSEH, which isn't covered by the patent _______________________________________________ Ros-dev mailing list Ros-dev@reactos.org http://www.reactos.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-dev
Dwarf2 is stack-based and integrated into gcc on a lot of platforms. It uses a slightly different wording frame based. Basic operation is the same. Note if stack-based processor operations were patented Intel would hold the patent not Borland since they developed the processor features that let it happen. Its the system of Microsoft/Borland SEH that is patented. Dwarf2 is a completely independently developed using a different system. Same interfaces to processor. Dwarf2 is not locked to x86 processors. Dwarf2 has now been extended to Dwarf3 to do support of pure 64 bit systems.
Non issue. KJKHyperion not true. A system exists in gcc for frame based exception handling. Its used. Only recently did mingw catch up. Even djgpp for dos has had it for years. Mingw is the last gcc to get it.
PSEH with double mode would solve all the problems. Dwarf2/3 could be used to cover platforms not covered by x86 and even x86 where Dwarf2/3 is supported by the complier.
Even Dwarf system has other advantages. Remote debuging is supported on lot more different processors. Every wonder how Linux is debuged on some of its strange processors. The trick is dwarf. A OS cannot develop without some form of exception handling. Example GNU Hurd. Complete stuffed for a long time because of the lack of tools to debug it.