Re: gnu utilities for MVS and CMS

[Eric Blake]

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According to Paul Edwards on 1/31/2009 8:23 AM:

[your port of the m4 package may be easier to discuss on the m4 lists]

> Not a bug.  An enhancement.  I now have ports of these products to MVS
> and CMS (mainframe operating systems).  It would be nice if this stuff was
> included in a subdirectory of the official products.  I realise not all of
> these products are covered by this list, but I'm including them just for
> completeness.  Also note that these versions compile in a standard
> C90 environment, which is all that is offered on MVS and CMS (with
> this compiler - GCCMVS/GCCCMS 3.2.3 v6.0, anyway).  That is why
> old versions of some of the products were chosen for porting.

Thanks for the porting efforts.  Unfortunately, while it is nice to see
your efforts and your links, I can state that at least for m4, it is not
worth uploading your binaries to the official FSF sites.  It is just too
much hassle for me to provide a pre-compiled binary for a target I can't
even test on, when it is much simpler for me to just provide only the
official source tarballs.  Fortunately, the GPL guarantees you the freedom
to continue making and publishing your ports on your site.

>
> Even if they aren't officially included, people may find it via a google
> search.  Note that the version numbers have an "MVS" in them to
> show that they're unofficial.  If these things are included in the
> official version I would like that dropped.
>
> 
> m4 1.4:
> 
> https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=195127&package_id=266159

This is an old version with known security flaws.  Can you try porting the
newer m4 1.4.12 release instead, which should still be compilable with
just a C89 compiler?  If you can't compile newer m4 on your environment
out of the box, but can make quick modifications to change that situation,
then those would be good candidates for upstream inclusion.

- --
Don't work too hard, make some time for fun as well!

Eric Blake             address@hidden
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