Unix News Tutorials Events and Stuff: F43 Change Proposal: GNU Toolchain Update (system wide)

Wiki - https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/GNUToolchainF43
Discussion thread -
https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f43-change-proposal-gnu-toolchain-update-system-wide/157319

This is a proposed Change for Fedora Linux.
This document represents a proposed Change. As part of the Changes
process, proposals are publicly announced in order to receive
community feedback. This proposal will only be implemented if approved
by the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee.

== Summary ==
Update the Fedora 43 GNU Toolchain to gcc 15.2, binutils 2.45, glibc
2.42 and gdb 17.1.

The set of core GNU Toolchain packages for Fedora 43 are as follows:

* GNU C Compiler 15.2
** Associated runtimes for C++ (libstdc++), Go (gccgo), OpenMP (gomp),
Fortran (gfortran), D (phobos), Objective C/C++.
* GNU Binary Utilities 2.45
* GNU C Library 2.42
* GNU Debugger 17.1 (immediately available in all Fedora releases)

The gcc 15.2 change will be tracked in this top-level GNU Toolchain
system-wide change request.

The binutils 2.45 change will be tracked in this top-level GNU
Toolchain system-wide change request.

The glibc 2.42 change will be tracked in this top-level GNU Toolchain
system-wide change request.

The gdb 17.1 update will be rolled out across all Fedora releases and
the move to newer versions will be handled in the same fashion. The
debugger is capable of debugging the binary artifacts produced by the
rest of the system toolchain.

== Owner ==
* Name: [[User:codonell|Carlos O'Donell]]
* Email: carlos@redhat.com

== Detailed Description ==
The GNU Compiler Collection, GNU Binary Utilities, GNU C Library, and
the GNU Debugger make up the core part of the GNU Toolchain and it is
useful for our users to transition these components as a complete
implementation when making a new release of Fedora.


The latest point release for gcc 15 will be included in Fedora 43,
this will most probably be 15.2.


The GNU Binutils version 2.45 will be released before Fedora 43; and
we have already been using this version of binutils in Fedora Rawhide
to successfully build the distribution. Given the present schedule for
Fedora 43 we will continue to use Binutils 2.45.


The GNU C Library version 2.42 is expected to be released before
Fedora 43; we have started closely tracking the glibc 2.42 development
code in Fedora Rawhide and are addressing any issues as they arise.
Given the present schedule Fedora 43 will branch after the release of
glibc 2.42. However, the mass rebuild schedule means Fedora 43 will
mass rebuild before the final release of glibc 2.42, but after the ABI
is frozen.


The GNU Debugger version 17.1 will be rolled out across all Fedora
releases at the same time.

== Benefit to Fedora ==
Stays up to date with latest features, improvements, security and bug
fixes from gcc, glibc, binutils, and gdb upstream.

The goal is to track and transition to the latest components of the
GNU Toolchain.

== Scope ==
* Proposal owners: Fedora Toolchain Team (gcc, glibc, binutils, gdb,
...) developers need to ensure that gcc, glibc, binutils, and gdb in
rawhide are stable and ready for the Fedora 43 branch.

* Other developers: Given that glibc is backwards compatible and we
have been testing the new glibc in rawhide it should make very little
impact when updated, except for the occasional deprecation warnings
and removal of legacy interfaces from public header files.

* Release engineering: A mass rebuild is strongly encouraged;
[https://pagure.io/releng/issue/12798 #12798]

* Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)

* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)

* Alignment with Objectives: N/A

== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==

The compiler, the static linker and the the library are backwards
compatible with the previous version of Fedora.




Any source level changes required for glibc 2.42 will be noted here:
https://sourceware.org/glibc/wiki/Release/2.42#Packaging_Changes

== How To Test ==


The GNU Compiler Collection has its own test suite which is run during
the package build and examined by the gcc developers before being
uploaded.


The GNU C Library has its own test suite which is run during the
package build and examined by the glibc developers before being
uploaded. This test suite has over 6200 tests that run to verify the
correct operation of the library. In the future we may also run the
microbenchmark to look for performance regressions.


The GNU Binutils has its own test suite which is run during the
package build and examined by binutils developers before being
uploaded. The regression test suite is run to verify the correct
operation of the static linker and attendant utilities.


The GNU Debugger has its own test suite which is run during the
package build and examined by gdb developers before being uploaded.
The regression test suite is run to verify the correct operation of
the debugger.

== User Experience ==

Upgrading the 4 main GNU Toolchain components (gcc, binutils, glibc,
and gdb) ensures that users have an up to date working system
compiler, assembler, static linker, core language runtimes (C, C++,
etc), dyanmic linker, and debugger. All of these components are being
updated to provide support for newer language features, and hardware
features; enabling users to make use of these features for their
applications. In some cases the components are updated in a
synchronized fashion if a feature requires support across the
components that constitute the implementation e.g. compiler feature
that requires language library support.

== Dependencies ==
All packages do not need to be rebuilt due to backwards compatibility.
However, it is advantageous if a mass rebuild is performed during the
Fedora 43 cycle. The mass rebuild would ensure all packages can be
built with the newer compiler and core runtimes.

== Contingency Plan ==
* Contingency mechanism for gcc: Since we are only updating to a point
release there is no contingency mechanism. It is expected that the
point release is not a disruptive event. We could revert to the
previous point release without difficulty.

* Contingency mechanism binutils: If binutils 2.45 proves too
disruptive to assembling and linking the distribution we could revert
to 2.44, but given that Rawhide is using 2.45, no show-stopper
problems are expected. At this point we can still revert if
insurmountable problems appear, but to do so may require a mass
rebuild if the defects involve generated binaries.

* Contingency mechanism glibc: If glibc 2.42 proves too disruptive to
compiling the distribution we could revert to 2.41, but given that
Rawhide has started tracking glibc 2.42, no show-stopper problems are
expected. At this point we can still revert to upstream version 2.41
if insurmountable problems appear, but to do so may require a mass
rebuild to remove new symbols from the ABI/API.

* Contingency mechanism gdb: We don't expect gdb updates to be
disruptive, but since code generation and runtime are not impacted
(except for debuginfo modification in the build process) it is
relatively low cost to revert to a previous version.

* Contingency deadline: Fedora mass rebuild on 2025-07-23.
* Blocks release?
** No, upgrading to gcc 15.2 does block the release.
** Yes, upgrading to binutils 2.45 does block the release.
** Yes, upgrading to glibc 2.42 does block the release.
** No, upgrading to gdb 17.2 does not block the release.

== Documentation ==
The gcc manual contains the documentation for the release and doesn't
need any more additional work.

The binutils manual contains the documentation for the release and
doesn't need any more additional work.

The glibc manual contains the documentation for the release and
doesn't need any more additional work.

The gdb manual contains the documentation for the release and doesn't
need any more additional work.

== Release Notes ==

See https://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-15/changes.html for the GNU Compiler
Collection version 15 release notes.


The GNU Binary Utilities version 2.45 will be released August 2025.
The current release notes will be sent to the developer mailing list.


The GNU C Library version 2.42 will be released at the beginning of
August 2025. The current NEWS notes can be seen here as they are
added: https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=blob;f=NEWS;hb=HEAD


The GNU Debugger version 17.1 will be released July 2025.

--
Aoife Moloney

Fedora Operations Architect

Fedora Project

Matrix: @amoloney:fedora.im

IRC: amoloney

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Friday, July 4, 2025

F43 Change Proposal: GNU Toolchain Update (system wide)

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