-C linker-flavor=clang

[pnkfelix]

Proposal

What: Add new -C linker-flavor=clang value, which in short-term will just be an alias for the current linker-flavor=gcc.

Why: Today, we do a best-effort attempt to infer the linker-flavor, and amazingly to me we get away with mapping invocations of clang as a linker to the internal linker-flavor "gcc".

But I would like to encourage developers to specify their linker flavor, and I think we will have a much easier time doing that if we aren't asking them to write seemingly contradictory things like -C linker=clang -C linker-flavor=gcc.

(For reference, check out when linker-flavor was introduced way back in: rust-lang/rust#40018 , and its tracking issue in rust-lang/rust#49794 . petrochenkov also has very interesting notes regarding the overall picture for linker-flavor over in rust-lang/rust#96827 (comment) )

Mentors or Reviewers

I'd be happy to mentor/review this. It should be easy to do the initial bit if it is approved.

Process

The main points of the Major Change Process are as follows:

• File an issue describing the proposal.
• A compiler team member or contributor who is knowledgeable in the area can second by writing @rustbot second.
  • Finding a "second" suffices for internal changes. If however, you are proposing a new public-facing feature, such as a -C flag, then full team check-off is required.
  • Compiler team members can initiate a check-off via @rfcbot fcp merge on either the MCP or the PR.
• Once an MCP is seconded, the Final Comment Period begins. If no objections are raised after 10 days, the MCP is considered approved.

You can read more about Major Change Proposals on forge.

Comments

This issue is not meant to be used for technical discussion. There is a Zulip stream for that. Use this issue to leave procedural comments, such as volunteering to review, indicating that you second the proposal (or third, etc), or raising a concern that you would like to be addressed.

[rustbot]

This issue is not meant to be used for technical discussion. There is a Zulip stream for that. Use this issue to leave procedural comments, such as volunteering to review, indicating that you second the proposal (or third, etc), or raising a concern that you would like to be addressed.

cc @rust-lang/compiler @rust-lang/compiler-contributors

[pnkfelix]

See https://rust-lang.zulipchat.com/#narrow/stream/238009-t-compiler.2Fmeetings/topic/.5Bplanning.5D.202023-06-02/near/363068976

Withdrawing proposal.