GDB 17.2 release update -- 2026-04-25

GDB 17.2 release update -- 2026-04-25

[Joel Brobecker]

Hi everyone,

Quick update on the 17.2 release, where the target date is next weekend:

    Sat-Sun May 02-03

As of now, we have 2 PRs left to fix in our TODO list, normally
in good hands. Please let us know if there are some other last-minute
issues you think we should include in the 17.2 corrective release.

Otherwise, as soon as the two PRs are fixed, I plan to publish
the 17.2 release the first weekend that follows the fix.

Here is a quick recap of the changes since last week:

Fixed Since the Previous Update:
--------------------------------

 * [Thiago] build/33747
   Incompatible with MUSL libc: no member named 'c_ospeed' in 'termios'
   https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33747

Added Since the Last Update:
----------------------------

 * [TomDV] tui/31449
   TUI crash with debuginfod support
   https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31449

        https://sourceware.org/pipermail/gdb-patches/2026-April/226551.html

 * [TomDV] tui/33794
   [gdb/tui] Recursive readline use
   https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33794

Other Ongoing Items:
--------------------

  < none :) >

Not Blocking, But Keep An Eye On:
---------------------------------

  < none :) >

Thank you all!
-- 
Joel

Re: GDB 17.2 release update -- 2026-04-25

[Andrew Burgess]

Joel Brobecker <brobecker@adacore.com> writes:

> Hi everyone,
>
> Quick update on the 17.2 release, where the target date is next weekend:
>
>     Sat-Sun May 02-03
>
> As of now, we have 2 PRs left to fix in our TODO list, normally
> in good hands. Please let us know if there are some other last-minute
> issues you think we should include in the 17.2 corrective release.
>
> Otherwise, as soon as the two PRs are fixed, I plan to publish
> the 17.2 release the first weekend that follows the fix.
>
> Here is a quick recap of the changes since last week:
>
> Fixed Since the Previous Update:
> --------------------------------
>
>  * [Thiago] build/33747
>    Incompatible with MUSL libc: no member named 'c_ospeed' in 'termios'
>    https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33747
>
> Added Since the Last Update:
> ----------------------------
>
>  * [TomDV] tui/31449
>    TUI crash with debuginfod support
>    https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=31449
>
>         https://sourceware.org/pipermail/gdb-patches/2026-April/226551.html
>
>  * [TomDV] tui/33794
>    [gdb/tui] Recursive readline use
>    https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33794

On these last two issues, I took a look at Tom's patches, and ended up
posting an alternative proposal (to both issues) here:

  https://inbox.sourceware.org/gdb-patches/cover.1777645161.git.aburgess@redhat.com

I let Tom know, and he seems generally happy with this proposal, see:

  https://inbox.sourceware.org/gdb-patches/4300deb1-765a-48fe-9d3f-69122748547d@suse.de

though this wasn't a full approval for the patches.

My take is that these two bugs should NOT hold up the 17.2 release.
They have both existed ever since the debuginfod prompt was added back
in GDB 12, so holding up this point release seems pretty arbitrary.

In addition, triggering this bug is (IMHO) pretty unlikely (though not
impossible), but more importantly, it can only trigger early in a debug
session.  Once the user has done something to trigger the debuginfod
prompt they are "safe" from this bug, which means the pain of living
with this is 17.2 (as with all earlier releases) is pretty low; yes GDB
might crash, but the user will not have done much in their session by
that point, so they'll not have lost much.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts, in case this makes the go / no-go
choice any easier.

Thanks,
Andrew

Re: GDB 17.2 release update -- 2026-04-25

[Joel Brobecker]

Hi Andrew,

> On these last two issues, I took a look at Tom's patches, and ended up
> posting an alternative proposal (to both issues) here:
> 
>   https://inbox.sourceware.org/gdb-patches/cover.1777645161.git.aburgess@redhat.com
> 
> I let Tom know, and he seems generally happy with this proposal, see:
> 
>   https://inbox.sourceware.org/gdb-patches/4300deb1-765a-48fe-9d3f-69122748547d@suse.de
> 
> though this wasn't a full approval for the patches.

Thanks for the update and your help with this issue.

> My take is that these two bugs should NOT hold up the 17.2 release.
> They have both existed ever since the debuginfod prompt was added back
> in GDB 12, so holding up this point release seems pretty arbitrary.
> 
> In addition, triggering this bug is (IMHO) pretty unlikely (though not
> impossible), but more importantly, it can only trigger early in a debug
> session.  Once the user has done something to trigger the debuginfod
> prompt they are "safe" from this bug, which means the pain of living
> with this is 17.2 (as with all earlier releases) is pretty low; yes GDB
> might crash, but the user will not have done much in their session by
> that point, so they'll not have lost much.

That was my sentiment as well. We kept the patches on the list
with a possible hold of a week or two on the premisse that we already
had patches up for review and that the fix was very safe. Now that
the story looks little more complex, and with your added context about
how long this issue has been present, means it no longer makes sense
to hold the 17.2 release up.

I will create the release tomorrow or Sunday.

-- 
Joel