[fpc-devel] Request for an interim release of the 3.0 branch

[Bart]

Hi,

The 3.0.2 release has a serious regression: it does not generate
lineinfo, at least on linux i386/x86-64.

See: http://bugs.freepascal.org/view.php?id=31629 and this discussion
on this ML: http://lists.freepascal.org/pipermail/fpc-devel/2017-April/037695.html

The issue makes the 3.0.2 compiler almost useless for development on
the affected platforms.

The issue is fixed by merging  r33007, 33008, 33561 and 34384 (unit exeinfo).
Probably r35886 should be merged as well.

I would propose to release a 3.0.2a version for the affected platforms
which includes the above revisions (and probably nothing else, since
AFAIK this is the only major regression).

Personally I have solved it by rebuilding fpc from the 3.0.2 source
with exeinfo patched.
Not everybody is able to do so though, nor should we insist that an
average user (let alone a novice) does so.

There has been a long time period between the release of 3.0.0 (sep
2015) and 3.0.2 (feb 2017).
A 3.0.4 release does not seem to be scheduled yet.

Further more Lazarus also ships with the 3.0.2 release (since the
Lazarus 1.6.4 release).

Not being able to have proper debugging info might reflect poorly on
both FreePascal and Lazarus and scare away new users, especially if it
would take a long time to release a fix.

The only alternative would be to advise *nix users to use the 3.0.0
release instead.

Bart