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Date:	Fri, 29 Apr 2016 11:49:27 +0300
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From:	"Eli Zaretskii (eliz AT gnu DOT org) [via djgpp AT delorie DOT com]" <djgpp AT delorie DOT com>
To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
In-reply-to:	<57228FEC.9080408@gmx.de> (djgpp@delorie.com)
Subject:	Is DJGPP Emacs still wanted? (was: GCC 3.4.6 -gcoff produces executable without line number info)
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> Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2016 00:34:20 +0200
> From: "Juan Manuel Guerrero (juan DOT guerrero AT gmx DOT de) [via djgpp AT delorie DOT com]" <djgpp AT delorie DOT com>
> 
> If gdb64 is not good enough to debug emacs issues, then we have reach the end
> of the road of the DJGPP port of emacs.  I have neither the skills nor the time
> to fix broken coff debug support neither in binutils nor in gdb.

This raises an issue that is IMO important to discuss.  It is
certainly important for me personally.  Here it is:

  Do we still want/need to build latest Emacs versions with DJGPP?

Maintaining DJGPP compatibility in Emacs sources is a non-trivial
task.  That compatibility gets regularly broken, and the breakage is
not apparent and doesn't get fixed until much later, because (AFAIK)
no one tracks the development sources on a regular basis.

I'm quite sure I'm the only one who builds the DJGPP Emacs and fixes
any bugs I find for the past several years.  Doing that is a burden
that slowly becomes heavier and heavier (and I'm not getting younger,
either).  For example, I am currently trying to fix bugs in the DJGPP
build of the latest pretest of Emacs 25.1, and I have already invested
about 3 days of my free time into getting it to build.  I still have a
significant bug to fix (invoking programs doesn't work), and a couple
of minor ones.  The issues with being able to debug Emacs with GDB,
discussed lately, only make the not-so-simple job even more so.

So please tell me if these efforts are still needed.  Does anyone use
a DJGPP Emacs for their routine work, on DJGPP or anything else?
Because if no one needs this port, all my efforts to maintain it are
just a huge waste of time.

We are all volunteers here.  But if a volunteer's work is unused,
he/she should invest their energy elsewhere.

Please respond.  If no one responds to these questions, I will
conclude that the DJGPP port of Emacs is not needed anymore, and will
stop trying to keep it in working order.

Thanks in advance.

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