--- Brian Hechinger <wonko_at_4amlunch.net> wrote:
> it has really opened my eyes to the fact that your average opensource
> coder has been so coddled by the whole gcc/x86 platform that they have
> really started to make stupid mistakes and even stupider assumptions
> about things.
They used to say the same thing about BSD/VAX coders...
> the most common assumption is that a void pointer and an int pointer is
> the same size. which just happens to be true in 32-bit land...
The charge in 1983 was "char * and an int are the same size..."
> ... but totally hoses those of us who live in 64-bit land.
The hosed parties 20 years ago tended to be 16-bit users/admins.
> hell, even the code that autoconf generates for tests makes that
> assumption.
I realize that Linux on x86 is a hugely popular platform for Open Source
work, but there's plenty of UltraSPARC machines out there... surely
you don't need an Alpha to shatter these assumptions
-ethan
(whose Alpha is running VMS, not UNIX; because it can)
Received on Thu May 29 2003 - 08:19:00 BST
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