Retiring in-tree GDB

[Bryan Drewery]

On 10/20/2015 2:40 PM, Bryan Drewery wrote:
> On 10/20/2015 2:25 PM, Bryan Drewery wrote:
>> On 10/20/2015 1:36 PM, John Baldwin wrote:
>>> However, I would like to propose that we retire the in-tree GDB for some of
>>> our platforms (namely x86) for 11.  In particular, I think we should default
>>
>> Disabling/removing gdb. Definitely. It is unusable in many cases and the
>> working gdb is just a 'pkg install' away.
>>
>>> to enabling lldb and disabling gdb for platforms that meet the following
>>
>> Why should we include lldb in the base system? It is not needed to build
>> or use the system and we can easily provide one from packages.
>>
>> Arguments about providing a default working system don't work here for
>> me as we don't provide perl, python, valgrind, vim, emacs, X11, etc.  We
>> can provide lldb and gdb on the default DVD though.
>>
>> If we are actually going to "package base" in 11, we should not be
>> adding new things into base that can easily live in ports. Yes, I know
>> lldb is already there but I don't think it should be.
>>
>> Can the same be said for tools such as truss, ktrace or nvi? Sure. The
>> discussion is really "what packages should be installed by default".
>> The answer should be "what all, or most, users _need_" Do most users
>> need a debugger? I don't think so.
>>
>>> criteria:
>>>
>>> 1) devel/gdb works including thread and kgdb support
>>> 2) lldb works
>>
>>
> 
> Other things to consider is that this increases build time for a tool
> that only developers need. Given it is not a drop-in replacement for
> gdb, a tool that people have become accustomed to over several decades,
> the bar for adding it into the base system should be higher.
> 

In private discussions it was pointed out we don't have reliable
packages for tier 2 architectures. That is a very valid point. I just
ask that we try to shift our mindset to "pkg install" where possible.

-- 
Regards,
Bryan Drewery

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