LLVM/Clang Can Work Fine As A GCC Replacement For Linux Distributions

[phoronix]

Phoronix: LLVM/Clang Can Work Fine As A GCC Replacement For Linux Distributions

While the performance of LLVM/Clang is on-par with GCC these days on both x86_64 and AArch64 and the C/C++ support is very robust compared to many years ago, most Linux distributions continue using the GCC compiler and GNU toolchain by default. OpenMandriva is a well known Linux distribution that for several years has been a Clang-built Linux distribution while for three years now the Chimera Linux distribution has also been relying exclusively on an LLVM toolchain...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/LLVM-Clang-Chimera-Linux-2024

[xpris]

Well, OpenMandriva use LLVM/Clang for years with lto/pgo with good success

[grigi]

I'm personally just hoping for a good race between the two implementations.

[pabloski]

Is someone really surprised? We are talking about the toolchain used to compile MacOS from the kernel to the userland bits and FreeBSD!!! Doesn't support exotic CPU architectures, but the rest is top notch.

[ms178]

Even Glibc can now be built with Clang, that's remarkable indeed (I've been using the azanella/clang git repo for some time now).

[patrick1946]

What is the C/C++ language? I thought the kernel is using C with GCC extensions.

People love to mix C and C++ but the languages are widely different.

[TheMightyBuzzard]

Excellent. That's just what I want from a compiler suite: "we're almost as good as what you're already using".

[Rallos Zek]

That'll be a no from me dawg. LLVM/Clang is too proprietary enabling for my tastes.

[Volta]

Is someone really surprised? We are talking about the toolchain used to compile MacOS from the kernel to the userland bits and FreeBSD!!! Doesn't support exotic CPU architectures, but the rest is top notch.

Good to know it's not a toy anymore (I couldn't care less about ability to compile macos or freebsd). Furthermore, this is no surprise, as they have been working on being able to compile the Linux kernel for years. Top notch? GCC is the facto standard. Would be great to see Linux kernel performance with llvm compared to GCC.

[Volta]

What is the C/C++ language? I thought the kernel is using C with GCC extensions.

People love to mix C and C++ but the languages are widely different.

Yes, it's very irritating. Especially in job offers. I wouldn't touch C++ with a stick, so I hate when someone mentions it next to C.