Re: Questions about gdb/mi support on the Mac

Mark Kettenis
2007-08-30T21:10:55Z

> From: Nick Roberts <nickrob@snap.net.nz>
> Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:54:10 +1200
>
> > > > If your frontend must run on a Mac then you either need to compile FSF
> > > > GDB for the Mac (if that's possible)
> > >
> > > It isn't.
> >
> > Well, in that case, hopefully people realize that apple is making some
> > silly decisions by making a monopoly on gdb front ends. Not that I
> > believe this was there intention, but I do believe it was a
> > consequence of there irresponsibility.
>
> It's not silly and it's not a monopoly. They're accountable to
> their shareholders, not us.

While that statement may legally be true, at least in the US, I don't
think it is morally right. Companies have responsibilities to the
society around it, especially the communities they directly interact
with.

Of course Apple realises that they can't just take from the Open
Source community, but also have to give something back. They did
indeed decide to assign their changes back to the FSF such that they
can be merged back. But they could (and I believe should) do more
than just that. There are a couple of companies that use gdb in their
products that are much more active in contributing changes back to us.

Mark