From: "D. Jeff Dionne" <jeff AT maribor DOT pfnet DOT com>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: GCC on an 80286
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 13:30:48 -0500
Organization: DKG / Dionne & Associates
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References: <199711140637 DOT WAA20722 AT adit DOT ap DOT net>
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Nate Eldredge wrote:

[chop]
>    The main goal of GNU CC was to make a good, fast compiler for
> machines in the class that the GNU system aims to run on: 32-bit
> machines that address 8-bit bytes and have several general registers.
> Elegance, theoretical power and simplicity are only secondary.
> 
> (IMHO, the 386 only marginally fits this description due to its
> register-starvedness.) GCC doesn't work on < 32-bit machines. The 286 
> is a glorified 16-bit machine. No go.
> 

The Linux86 or ELKS project uses a compiler included with it (source
code as well) and can produce DOS .COM files.  BTW, the gcc _is_ 
useable as a <32 bit compiler.  I have a port (done by the good ppl
at Coactive) to 6811 and it works just fine.  6811 is for the most
part an 8 bit machine.  It will even do wierd things, like the port
to Mororola DSP56k which is a 24 bit machine.  So, it's more that no
one has built a 16bit x86 back end (which would be much different than
the 386 and up back end), and no so much that gcc itself can't do it.

Cheers,
Jeff.

> Nate Eldredge
> eldredge AT ap DOT net