Can I compile gcc with distcc?

[davidshen84]

Hi,

My laptop is really old, and compiling gcc could take more than 2 hours. I have another Ubuntu system with gcc-12 and gcc-13 installed. I have configured distcc on both machines, and I can use distcc from my gentoo system and the compilations are distributed on both machines. I am even able to compile my kernel using distcc.

However, I could not compile gcc with distcc. Is it possible to use distcc when compiling gcc?


Thanks

[sublogic]

My laptop is really old, and compiling gcc could take more than 2 hours. I have another Ubuntu system with gcc-12 and gcc-13 installed. I have configured distcc on both machines, and I can use distcc from my gentoo system and the compilations are distributed on both machines. I am even able to compile my kernel using distcc.

However, I could not compile gcc with distcc. Is it possible to use distcc when compiling gcc?

It is possible, but only for the first of three passes. With most compilers, certainly with gcc, you compile the sources with the system compiler, producing a binary of the new compiler. Then you compile again with the new compiler, producing new compiler #2, functionally equivalent to the first but not identical. Then you compile again with new compiler #2, producing new compiler #3 which should be identical to #2 if everything worked.

Distcc can produce #1, but is out of the loop when building #2 and #3.

You can do what I do: export your old laptop's root (and /var, if separate) by NFS to your faster computer and emerge gcc in a chroot. I cobbled a little script to prepare the chroot, including bind-mounting the helper's /var/tmp/portage on the NFS mount. PM me for details if you need help.

(The two computers have to trust each other ! root access both ways.)

[davidshen84]

NFS+chroot, that's a good idea. Thanks

I wish gcc can be compiled using distcc directly. I guess version alignment is always tricky, and that's why nobody wants to try.

[sam_]

With distcc, you need not just the same versions, but the same configuration and patches.

You're probably better off using binpkgs for this case.

[NeddySeagoon]

davidshen84,

NFS sharing works,

Building in a chroot is good too.
Then you build everything on a big hairy system and make your own binaries. which you install on the slow system.

[davidshen84]

NeddySeagoon,

Thanks a lot. I will give it a try later.