GNU Tools Weekly News Update Week 6  (October 6, 2025)

https://inbox.sourceware.org/gcc/CAHt=NyNKa=eQ8ytymevK-r_Zz5p_DhzOzpYC35YLdqzJ4XhgMQ@mail.gmail.com/T/#u

Summary below:

General/big GNU toolchain news (including sourceware news):
* Last week was the GNU tools 2025 cauldron
** Will post and update when the videos and pdfs on cauldron available
** Thanks again to the host (Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto) and organizers for a wonderful and productive cauldron

GCC discussion:
* Followup from the cauldron about  "bugzilla keyword for beginner issues to work on"
** https://inbox.sourceware.org/gcc/0ef5e545-ec01-4fdc-99ca-28dd30577e6f@gmail.com/T/#m99b5395361ece1d1c3f294e2d5b1582e6d11a39b

* Link to the GCC Steering Committee overview on the wiki was posted
** https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/gcc-steering-committee

* How to build a cross compiler for NVPTX backend
** The instructions can be found at https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Offloading#For_Nvidia_PTX:

* `Regarding vectorize pattern recognition for [generic] vector [extension] code`
** https://inbox.sourceware.org/gcc/pro8s25q-n91q-5qr0-497n-r539n9s290r9@fhfr.qr/T/#me17225d58ef3e998e5897ebd6c9c0bc3b344f49e

GCC commits:
* Removal of the fold_builtin (fab) pass
** Merged functionality into other passes
* Function multi-version (FMV) support was improved to now follow ARM's ACLE
** Support was added to the C front-end also
** AARCH64 support is no longer beta
* libstdc++: Implement Philox Engine, c++26 P2075R6
** First time contributor; https://github.com/1nfocalypse
* Improvements for AutoFDO and profiling in general
* toplevel: unify the GCC and GDB/binutils .editorconfig files
* C: Add -Wmultiple-parameter-fwd-decl-lists new warning
* C++: Implement C++26 P2795R5 - Erroneous behavior for uninitialized reads
* Ada: Availability of the Extended_Access aspect.
** https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gnat_rm/Aspect-Extended_005fAccess.html

GCC bugzilla stats (includes previous week too):
* 149 new issues filed
* 113 issues closed

glibc commits:
* C23: Implement memset_explicit
* AArch64: Implement AdvSIMD and SVE log2p1(f) and log10p1(f) routines
* C23: Add once_flag, ONCE_FLAG_INIT and call_once to stdlib.h
* Optimize flt-32 and dbl-64 remainder implementation

glibc/binutils discussions:
* LLM-generated or assisted contributions
** https://inbox.sourceware.org/libc-alpha/20250926113418.GC1335@gnu.wildebeest.org/T/#m150c261c0efeec12da4b0b193ba79f45ddbb9d37
** https://inbox.sourceware.org/binutils/C9F607CF-13B9-492C-B939-8B72BA672BD6@comcast.net/T/#mb0cdf5c6e1a626a19a1470137e5a731058064cce

gdb/binutils commits:
* aarch64: Update and fix some of the system registers
* Add the ability to find the clang LTO plugin with ar/ld/ranlib.
* Many gdb cleanups

gdb discussion:
* gdb does not stop at printf for ppc
** https://inbox.sourceware.org/gdb/87wm5b6a9w.fsf@tromey.com/T/#m6b827501a18f4b1006fcfe390815e818107a1c47

X is where you find the people who think they run the Internet.

Bluesky is where you find the people who think they ought to run the Internet.

Mastodon is where you find the people who actually do run the Internet, and kind of wish they didn't.

(WIth apologies to Yes, Minister)

In honor of the late Robert Redford, "Sneakers", in high def ANSI with full subtitles:

ssh sneakers@ansi.rya.nc

(needs a terminal with 24 bit color support)

[$] Creating a healthy kernel subsystem community

Creating welcoming communities within open-source projects is a recurring topic at conferences; those projects rely on contributions from others, so making them welcome is importan [...]

https://lwn.net/Articles/1036908/ #LWN

Well, I just got laid off from my job. If anyone needs a talented embedded systems engineer or hardware engineer with strong experience in video hardware, send me a message with details of a job opening and I can provide a CV. Remote work preferred, but I can work anywhere in central Minnesota. Boosts welcome and encouraged.

Apple M1

My first die shots. You can see a lot more than I'd imagined without a microscope. This is a 1:1 macro lens, and just changing the angle/size of the light source gives you a ton of control.

(My photographs, die prepared by "IT AI IC Cyber Style Store"/foreverfire2005 on ebay)

2005: Your website looks like it was designed by a 3-year-old and barely works, this can't be a trustworthy source of information

2025: Your website looks like it was designed by a 3-year-old and barely works, this is the last bastion of truth on the Internet

Weekly GCC update:

Optimization improvements:
* Copy prop for aggregates improvements; now into args
* Recongize integer zero as zeroing for memset into aggregate copy or memcpy
* Improve VN support over aggregates copies
* Recongize saturation multiple more
* Allow for more mergeable constants to be placed in the mergeable section

C++ improvements/changes:
* Implement C++20 (Defect report) P1766R1: Mitigating minor modules maladies
* Fix parsing of non-comma variadic methods with default args
* Warn on #undef/#define cpp.predefined macros
* Implement C++26 P1306R5 - Expansion statements
* Implement P2036R3 - Change scope of lambda trailing-return-type
* Finish up P2115R0 implementation (unnamed unscoped enums)

Target changes:
* epiphany and rl78 are marked as obsolete targets
* LoongArch: 128bit atomics support
* LoongArch: _BitInt support
* x86: Add target("80387") function attribute
* RISCV: Add MIPS prefetch extensions
* aarch64: Fix CMPBR extension

The more I hear about RISC-V the more it it sounds like XMPP but in even worse because you can't just patch your client. Vendors implement, it doesn't match the spec, "proprietary performance extensions" and you can recompile for every different CPU because of that

Summary of last week's changes in GCC:
* Many GCCrust changes were merged in (200+)
* Improvements to diagnostics infastructure
** supporting nesting levels
* _BitInt support for s390
** changes needed to support for loongarch too
* Update versions of MPC, MPFR and GMP in contrib/download_prerequisites
* Improvments to the VN for reading past an aggregate copy
* copy prop of aggregates improvements
* Improve handling of musttail calls in C++ with -fsanitize=address and -O0
* Fix/Improve constants that are mergeable; supports non power of 2 in some cases
* Implement C++26 P1061R10 - Structured Bindings can introduce a Pack

Meet our awesome mascot in the colors of the 2025 edition!
Bringing that unmistakable French touch to the conference.:)

Feel free to download and use them – and keep an eye out, you might just spot them on some slides this September!

https://kernel-recipes.org/en/2025/meet-our-mascot/

Remember when RFK Jr said he wanted to make lists of autistic people?

Disabled advocates warned that was just the beginning. That the violation of medical privacy would be used for nefarious purposes.

Today the regime announced it’s giving all personally identifiable information of Medicaid enrolees to ICE.

That’s right, ICE bullies will now have access to almost 80 million people’s personal info. This is an atrocious violation of privacy that will no doubt be used to target other groups as well.

It won’t stop with immigrants. It won’t stop with autistic people.

Fascists never stop and we must all fight back.

#uspol #fascism #immigration #medicaid #ableism #disability

You know, I remember times where I would concede proprietary software was *better* than #floss (due to features, support or however you want to define it).

Thanks to all the AI crap, micro-optimizations, tracking and privacy/security violations and useless changes I actually think most #floss apps are much better than their proprietary alternatives now. I don't have to keep clicking "maybe later" over and over. That's worth a lot to me OK?

That talk is incredible. If you're into hardware in general, you should watch it.

RE//verse 2025: Full-stack Reverse Engineering of the Original Microsoft...
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hGlIkgmhZvc

🖥 This is big: Android's Linux Terminal is available on the Galaxy Z Flip 7!

You can run full Linux apps in a VM. And with DeX, on an external display!

It's the first non-Pixel device to support it. Curiously, the Z Fold 7 doesn't have it. With the Linux Terminal + Samsung DeX...the Z Flip 7 might even be a better portable PC than the Z Fold 7? At least when it's docked!

Details👇

🔗 https://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-z-flip-7-linux-terminal-3578675/

@karotte's field guide to embedded CPU cores:

- does it have a USB connection? 8051
- does it handle USB power delivery? Cortex-M0
- does it process IP packets? MIPS
- is it in some sort of video ASIC? 80186

Yeah, seriously, what's up with the 80186? So far, I've encountered them in
- DP to HDMI converters (MCDP2900A)
- DVD Player SoCs (ZR36966)
- Monitor SoCs (STDP9310)

https://www.cpushack.com/2013/01/12/the-intel-80186-gets-turbocharged-vautomation-turbo186/ makes mention of two other video ASICs using an 80186 CPU

I dislike that Oracle decided to name their cloud Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), despite the existence and popularity of Open Container Initiative (OCI) projects. Grumble grumble.

EDIT: This position has now been filled. Many thanks to everyone who has responded and/or helped bringing attention to it.
/end edit

We're looking for a FOSS enthusiast who would like to represent NGI Zero in Poland. The mission is two-fold:
Engage local talent in the NGI initiative and share information about funding opportunities.
And bring NGI funded technologies to the attention of the local community.

https://nlnet.nl/foundation/jobs/regionalrepresentative-PL.html

#FOSS #NGI #NGIZero #Poland #getfedihired