If you are building g77 for distribution to others in binary form,
first make sure you are aware of your legal responsibilities (read
the file `gcc/COPYING' thoroughly).
Then, consider your target audience and decide where g77 should
be installed.
For systems like GNU/Linux that have no native Fortran compiler (or
where g77 could be considered the native compiler for Fortran and
gcc for C, etc.), you should definitely configure
g77 for installation
in `/usr/bin' instead of `/usr/local/bin'.
Specify the
`--prefix=/usr' option when running `./configure'.
You might
also want to set up the distribution so the f77 command is a
link to g77---just make an empty file named `f77-install-ok' in
the source or build directory (the one in which the `f' directory
resides, not the `f' directory itself) when you specify one of the
`install' or `uninstall' targets in a make command.
For a system that might already have f2c installed, you definitely
will want to make another empty file (in the same directory) named
either `f2c-exists-ok' or `f2c-install-ok'.
Use the former if you
don't want your distribution to overwrite f2c-related files in existing
systems; use the latter if you want to improve the likelihood that
users will be able to use both f2c and g77 to compile code for a
single program without encountering link-time or run-time
incompatibilities.
(Make sure you clearly document, in the "advertising" for
your distribution, how installation of your distribution will
affect existing installations of gcc, f2c,
f77, `libf2c.a', and so on.
Similarly, you should clearly document any requirements
you assume are met by users of your distribution.)
For other systems with native f77 (and cc) compilers,
configure g77 as you (or most of your audience) would
configure gcc for their installations.
Typically this is for installation in
`/usr/local', and would not include a copy of
g77 named f77, so
users could still use the native f77.
In any case, for g77 to work properly, you must ensure
that the binaries you distribute include:
g77 command.
The `bin/gcc' executable file must have been built
from a gcc source tree into which a g77 source
tree was merged and configured, or it will not know how
to compile Fortran programs.
g77.
If it is not included, users will have trouble understanding
diagnostics messages and other such things, and will send
you a lot of email asking questions.
Please edit this documentation (by editing `gcc/f/*.texi'
and doing `make doc' from the `/usr/src/gcc' directory)
to reflect any changes you've made to g77, or at
least to encourage users of your binary distribution to
report bugs to you first.
Also, whether you distribute binaries or install g77
on your own system, it might be helpful for everyone to
add a line listing this manual by name and topic to the
top-level info node in `/usr/info/dir'.
That way, users can find g77 documentation more
easily.
See section Updating Your Info Directory.
g77.
It is out of date, but you might as well include it
for people who really like man pages.
f77 is the same as g77,
this is the same as `man/man1/g77.1'.
Otherwise, it should be omitted from the distribution,
so the one already on a particular system does not
get overwritten.
g77-compiled programs.
Whether you want to include the slightly updated (and possibly
improved) versions of cc1, cc1plus, and whatever other
binaries get rebuilt with the changes the GNU Fortran distribution
makes to the GNU back end, is up to you.
These changes are
highly unlikely to break any compilers, and it is possible
they'll fix back-end bugs that can be demonstrated using front
ends other than GNU Fortran's.
Please assure users that unless
they have a specific need for their existing,
older versions of gcc command,
they are unlikely to experience any problems by overwriting
it with your version--though they could certainly protect
themselves by making backup copies first!
Otherwise, users might try and install your binaries
in a "safe" place, find they cannot compile Fortran
programs with your distribution (because, perhaps, they're
picking up their old version of the gcc command,
which does not recognize Fortran programs), and assume
that your binaries (or, more generally, GNU Fortran
distributions in general) are broken, at least for their
system.
Finally, please ask for bug reports to go to you first, at least
until you're sure your distribution is widely used and has been
well tested.
This especially goes for those of you making any
changes to the g77 sources to port g77, e.g. to OS/2.
@email{fortran@gnu.ai.mit.edu} has received a fair number of bug
reports that turned out to be problems with other peoples' ports
and distributions, about which nothing could be done for the
user.
Once you are quite certain a bug report does not involve
your efforts, you can forward it to us.
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