Re: a coreutils release is imminent

[Paul Eggert]

Matthew Woehlke <address@hidden> writes:

> I have *NO* c99-compatible compiler on sparc/Solaris, at least
> configure is not detecting it properly. This includes the most recent
> one I have available, 'cc: Sun WorkShop 6 update 2 C 5.3 2001/05/15'!

Why not just upgrade to the latest Sun C compiler?  It is free of
charge.  The version you use is supported only on Solaris 2.6 through
8.  The latest version is supported on Solaris 8 and up.

These days the main reason to use an older Sun compiler is that you're
running Solaris 7 or earlier.  But Sun no longer maintains Solaris 7
(they'll consult with you if you have problems, but they no longer
ship bugs).  And with Solaris 2.6 they won't even talk to you.

While we're on the subject, Sun stopped shipping Solaris 8 last month,
will stop fixing it on 2009-03-31, and will stop consulting for it on
2012-03-31.  That's not too shabby for an operating system released in
2000-02, but it really is time to upgrade to Solaris 10.  Even the
very-conservative sysadmins around here at UCLA are finally starting
to upgrade from 8 to 10.