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Why does FreeBSD use Clang?
Summary: The primary reason for switching from GCC to Clang is the incompatibility of GCC’s GPL v3 license with the goals of the FreeBSD project. There are also political issues to do with corporate investment, as well as user base requirements.
Why is GCC using Clang?
Clang is a C, C++, Objective-C, or Objective-C++ compiler that is compiled in C++ based on LLVM and released under the Apache 2.0 license. Clang is mainly used to provide performance superior to that of GCC. Through long-term development and iteration, GCC, Clang, and LLVM have become mature compilers in the industry.
Which compiler does FreeBSD use?
Clang/LLVM becomes integral part of FreeBSD, but default compiler is still GCC. Clang/LLVM can compile a working modified Linux kernel.
What is CC and GCC?
GCC is partly written in C language, while CC is fully written in C language. CC is used only on Unix and Unix-like operating systems, whereas GCC is used on various operating systems. GCC is generic, while CC is specific. GCC supports both C and C++ programs, while CC only supports C programs.
What C library does FreeBSD use?
POSIX standard library
BSD libc is a superset of the POSIX standard library supported by the C libraries included with BSD operating systems such as FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and macOS.
Should I use GCC or MSVC?
GCC is a fine compiler, and can produce code that has pretty much the same performance, if not better, than MSVC. It is missing some low-level Windows-specific features though.
Why did I switch from GCC to Clang?
Summary: The primary reason for switching from GCC to Clang is the incompatibility of GCC’s GPL v3 license with the goals of the FreeBSD project. There are also political issues to do with corporate investment, as well as user base requirements.
Why is FreeBSD still using GCC 4.2.1?
Because of GCC’s move to the GPL v3, FreeBSD was forced to remain using GCC 4.2.1 (GPL v2), which was released way back in 2007, and is now significantly outdated.
Is there a non GPL compiler for FreeBSD?
CLANG is a new non-GPL compiler initiated by a sponsor of FreeBSD that appears to be technically equivalent to the GPL-licensed GCC (as described above by *ire_and_curses*).
Is there any overlap between FreeBSD and Clang?
Although the extent to which FreeBSD is funded or given development by Apple is not easily discoverable, there is considerable overlap because Apple’s Darwin OS makes use of substantial BSD-originated kernel code. Additionally, Clang itself was originally an in-house Apple project, before being open-sourced in 2007.