From: thoma...@erols.com (Tom Vier) Subject: mozilla for linux/x86 only?! Date: 1999/03/26 Message-ID: <slrn7fn14g.k0m.thomassr@localhost.erols.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 459324891 X-Complaints-To: abuse@rcn.com X-Trace: rDA/pP5M+fCUF8TBZLf3xxP09wVzJqnpjueZMHxYgUY= Organization: Tortured Souls Software X-URL: http://www.erols.com/thomassr/zero/ User-Agent: slrn/0.9.5.4 (UNIX) Reply-To: thoma...@erols.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 26 Mar 1999 12:59:00 GMT Newsgroups: netscape.public.mozilla.unix i just went to build the latest mozilla from cvs on this ppc box, and it now depends on x86 asm! why is this? i looked at the code briefly, and i can't understand why it was written in asm. everyone knows that when writing asm anyone else is going to use, to provide C code to fallback on for other archs. this means i can't run mozilla on any of my boxes. i use ppc, sparc, and m68k machines, which now can't run mozilla. limiting mozilla on linux to x86's would be a serious mistake and a shame. -- Tom Vier - 0x82B007A8 thoma...@erols.com http://www.erols.com/thomassr/zero/
From: John Bandhauer <jb...@netscape.com> Subject: Re: mozilla for linux/x86 only?! Date: 1999/03/28 Message-ID: <36FEC962.F2F94F6B@netscape.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 460153182 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <slrn7fn14g.k0m.thomassr@localhost.erols.com> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: N E T S C A P E Mime-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: netscape.public.mozilla.unix,netscape.public.mozilla.xpcom Tom Vier wrote: > > i just went to build the latest mozilla from cvs on this ppc box, and > it now depends on x86 asm! why is this? i looked at the code briefly, > and i can't understand why it was written in asm. everyone knows that > when writing asm anyone else is going to use, to provide C code to > fallback on for other archs. > > this means i can't run mozilla on any of my boxes. i use ppc, sparc, > and m68k machines, which now can't run mozilla. limiting mozilla on > linux to x86's would be a serious mistake and a shame. John Fairhurst addressed some of this. I'll reiterate and expand... xptcall contains code used for dispatching calls to methods on xpcom objects and for generically impersonating xpcom interfaces. This is done dynamically based on information stored in typelib files that describe the signature of the interfaces. This is required for XPConnect see: http://www.mozilla.org/scriptable/ and warren also plans to use it to generically dispatch 'messages' on customized RDF datasource interfaces. This is not something that can be done in C/C++ only. Otherwise I'd have done it that way. A number of TOP MEN opted to go this route and live with the porting implications. We didn't announce this loudly, but it was no secret either. Nothing in mozilla itself yet uses this code. It currently builds on Win32 and Unix. There are stubbed implementations for as yet unsupported platforms. These stubs build but do not function. This code has been working for some time and has been on the tip for many weeks. Only recently has it been made part of the mozilla build. It is my fault that the makefile switch that was supposed to have the Linux x86 stuff only build on Linux x86 was not properly setup. The Makefile.in problem should be fixed (thanks to briano). Please let me know if this is not true. I've implemented functional code for Win32 and Linux x86. Roger Lawrence has a Solaris/Sparc port working that will be in soon. We're twisting arms and offering bribes inside Netscape to get the Mac PPC port done soon. John Fairhurst says he will be doing the two OS/2 ports. I am looking for capable volunteers to do ports of this code for any and all platforms that you want to see supported. Please go to it! The browser does not yet require this code. But soon it *will* be a required part of porting mozilla to new platforms (and keeping mozilla working on platforms where it works now). This code lives in: http://lxr.mozilla.org/mozilla/source/xpcom/libxpt/xptcall Ports should evolve under the 'md' subdir there. Help will be very much appreciated. Thanks, John. -- Opinions are my own. Any similarity to those of Netscape Communications is purely coincidental.
From: John Bandhauer <jb...@netscape.com> Subject: Re: mozilla for linux/x86 only?! Date: 1999/03/28 Message-ID: <36FF0206.CA2820CD@netscape.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 460215479 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <slrn7fn14g.k0m.thomassr@localhost.erols.com> <36FEC962.F2F94F6B@netscape.com> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: N E T S C A P E Mime-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: netscape.public.mozilla.unix,netscape.public.mozilla.xpcom A doc with some more info on xptcall and why it is as it is can be found at: http://www.mozilla.org/scriptable/xptcall-faq.html John. -- Opinions are my own. Any similarity to those of Netscape Communications is purely coincidental.