[fpc-devel] Small virtual machine to cross compile FPC

[Mark Morgan Lloyd]

Hans-Peter Diettrich wrote:
> Paul Breneman schrieb:
>> I've spent a bit of time during the past 7 years trying to figure out 
>> how to simplify things by avoiding cross-compiling.  This page has 
>> many of the details:
>>   http://turbocontrol.com/monitor.htm
>>
>> I think there is a way to simplify cross-compiling.  Levinux is a 
>> small (~20 MB) QEMU download for x86 PCs (Windows, OS X, Linux) that 
>> provides a small Tiny Core Linux VM.  I'd like to see something 
>> similar but with all the files and tools needed to pull the latest 
>> source code and cross-compile FPC (also with Debian instead of Tiny 
>> Core?).
>>   http://mikelev.in/ux/
>>
>> It seems to me that such a small VM should allow a nice standard 
>> method that will make it easy to test and see things work.
>>
>> I look forward to your thoughts and comments!
> 
> I wonder why you need or use cross-compilation at all?
> 
> The biggest part of an cross compiler are the target specific libraries 
> and tools, which allow to create executables for use on a specific 
> target. IMO it will be easier to create a dedicated VM for every target, 
> and install FPC there, instead of adding cross-compilation features for 
> many targets to whatever machine. Mobile devices often require their own 
> emulator, or a physical device, for program development, a single VM is 
> of little use herefore. IMO.

I've run builds of FPC and (to some extent) Lazarus natively using Qemu 
etc., and there can be serious speed issues. In particular, a PC used as 
a cross-development host is likely to have more memory than a target 
system which will have major implications on (linkage) speed, and it's 
probably undesirable to thrash a target system if its filesystem is 
based on Flash.

-- 
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk

[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]