Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 12:55:20 -0500 (CDT)
From: Aaron Ucko <UCKO AT VAX1 DOT ROCKHURST DOT EDU>
Subject: Re: 80286, 8088 cross compile
To: ah230 AT leo DOT nmc DOT edu
Cc: djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu
Organization: Rockhurst College; Kansas City, MO

>>	Is it possible to compile programs with gcc to execute on a 80286 
>>or 8088 (PC AT, XT)?  I did not find any option for these in the gcc info 
>>file.  go32 would not work on these systems.
>>	Why would I want to use such outdated systems?  There are 
>>applications such as word processing that don't require the latest in 
>>computing technology.

GCC knows nothing about segmentation and probably never will, so its output
is designed for a flat model; on 286s and worse, that means only 64K of
memory is available to your program.  (i.e. it has to fit in the ``tiny
memory model.'')  This is extremely limiting, and there are already free
or cheap compilers which support less limited memory models, so porting
GCC to the 286 was not considered worthwhile (particularly as it would
most likely be unable to compile itself, and thus lack a feature which
is practically required...).  In short, there is no 286 port, either
existing or planned.

--- Aaron Ucko (ucko AT vax1 DOT rockhurst DOT edu; finger for PGP public key) | httyp!
Geek code 2.1 [for explanation, finger hayden@ | `God's Laws' (Rudy Rucker,  
vax1.mankato.msus.edu]: GCS/M/S d(-) H s g+ p? \ _Master of Space and Time_):
!au a17 w+ v+(++) C++(+++)>++++ UL++(S+)>++++	\ 1) Be clean. 2) Follow Gary.
P+(++) L++ 3(-) E- N+(++) K- W--(---) M-@ V-(--) \ 3) Teach God's Laws.
po-(--) Y+ t(+) !5 j(++) R(-) G' tv--(-) b+++	  +---------------------------
!D(--) B--(---) e>++++(*) u++(@) h!() f(+) r-(--)>+++ n+(-) y?