Motorola m68k Support Improved Upon In GCC - Saved From Being Removed In GCC 11

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Motorola m68k Support Improved Upon In GCC - Saved From Being Removed In GCC 11

While the Motorola 68000 32-bit processors are from the 80's and early 90's, there still is a loyal following of hobbyists who managed to save the "m68k" compiler back-end from being removed in GCC 11...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GCC-11-m68k-Is-Safe

[Dr.N0]

A great example of community mobilization!

[Chewi]

Woo my Amiga 1200's Gentoo install shall live on! I still intend to publish fresh official m68k stage tarballs at some point. I cross-compiled my own system but that isn't really sufficient quality for building releases. The real hardware is way too slow so I need to get it working through QEMU, ARAnyM, or FS-UAE. I've had the latter running my Gentoo system but networking is broken.

[danmcgrew]

I didn't realize what I had...

As a Senior Applications Engineer for Mostek (second-source for Motorola), I was given a totally-self-contained complete single -board computer-in-a-briefcase (MEX68KDM(D4)), complete with power supply and all documentation (MACSbug M68KMBUG(D2)), for example; 32k DRAM, expandable to 256K. 8K MACSbug in EProm. 2K RAM for I/O. Connector for terminal. Used ONCE in a Motorola training session, and that's it.

I don't have any great feelings for eBay, but perhaps just this once...

[muncrief]

Ah yes, the 68000 was freakin' awesome!

It was actually the processor I built my first wire wrapped computer with. It couldn't do much as it had to be programmed with a row of toggle switches, and the display was simply a hodge podge of 7 segment LEDs I was able to scrounge up, but after I made it I was finally able to go to interviews and get a job as a digital design engineer.

And thank goodness, because school always literally bored me to tears, and sometimes even made me vomit. So without a degree, and having graduated a year early from high school with a proficiency test, I needed something to show I could design anything all by myself with whatever parts I could scavenge, and that formal education was meaningless.

"Knowledge is free.

It’s the certificate that costs."
SearingTruth

[caligula]

Amazing how the AVR folks are still using the old code. Arduino is pretty popular among noobs.

[Baguy]

I didn't realize what I had...

As a Senior Applications Engineer for Mostek (second-source for Motorola), I was given a totally-self-contained complete single -board computer-in-a-briefcase (MEX68KDM(D4)), complete with power supply and all documentation (MACSbug M68KMBUG(D2)), for example; 32k DRAM, expandable to 256K. 8K MACSbug in EProm. 2K RAM for I/O. Connector for terminal. Used ONCE in a Motorola training session, and that's it.

I don't have any great feelings for eBay, but perhaps just this once...

Ebay is terrible for sellers. It's super easy to be scammed. Sell it in person for cash or something.

[gamerk2]

The 68k was an excellently designed CPU architecture; it's a shame x86 win out (thanks to IBMs short-sightedness).
It's worth noting that 68k derived CPUs are still used as embedded microcontrollers, given they have good power/performance characteristics.

[L_A_G]

Last I checked Freescale (Motorola's semiconductor division after it was spun off) still made them for embedded uses and I recall seeing them used in Roombas so I suppose there's an argument for not calling curtains on the architecture just yet.

Still, I've got to say that as an architecture it's got damn good longevity for a misstep in the evolution of processor architectures and as a result lost to x86 and PPC by the mid 90s. Then again the embedded marketplace is the place where we find figurative architectural cockroaches like 6502 and Z80 from 1975 and 1976 respectively that are still hanging on in ultra low power use cases.

As for Atmel's AVR, that always seemed like it was primarily made for teaching people assembly language with it's 32 general purpose registers. If that sounds normal, I need to point out that AMD64/x86-64 has only half as many general purpose registers and AVR is an 8 bit architecture. Hence if they should have tried to keep at least one of those to-be-discontinued architectures then it should (IMHO) been AVR seeing how it's still used in education settings and in Arduino kits.

[cybertraveler]

As for Atmel's AVR, that always seemed like it was primarily made for teaching people assembly language with it's 32 general purpose registers. If that sounds normal, I need to point out that AMD64/x86-64 has only half as many general purpose registers and AVR is an 8 bit architecture. Hence if they should have tried to keep at least one of those to-be-discontinued architectures then it should (IMHO) been AVR seeing how it's still used in education settings and in Arduino kits.

Interesting info.

When it comes to the compiler maintenance work though, it's going to come down to what developers are passionate about or what is getting funded.

There's still time for AVR to be saved if the passion or money is there.