On 9/1/11 2:58 PM, "ext Thiago Macieira" <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Thursday, 1 de September de 2011 14:09:53 [email protected] wrote:
>> >2) add a configure-time check for enabling or disabling V8.
>> >3) withhold any and all mandatory uses of V8 inside Qt Base. The module
>> >must
>> >
>> >    compile with the same API until further decision.
>> 
>> We'll work on getting the ARM simulator that built into V8 working on
>>all
>> platforms. That should resolve the feature parity problem, but
>>performance
>> might not be the best everywhere.
>
>That's fine.
>
>I'm looking at it right now and the first problem I see is how to get it
>running on 64-bit platforms. My idea is to keep a 32-bit "high word" in
>the 
>simulator that shadows all registers. The simulator runs with 32-bit
>registers, but whenever it needs to call into host code, it needs to
>obtain 
>the high part of the 64-bit register.
>
>> >4) restore QtWebKit functionality on MIPS by featture-freeze (MIPS is
>> >heavily
>> >    used in the set-top-box market, where Qt and QtWebKit are quite
>> >important)
>> 
>> If there is someone that is willing to do the work, I'm all for it. But
>>it
>> doesn't happen by itself.
>
>If the ARM simulator works, that's a start. Full MIPS functionality would
>be 
>preferred, considering how important Qt is on MIPS.

I agree. There's work ongoing to fully support V8 on MIPS. I'm not 100%
sure what the status is right now, but I heard it's working. That would be
the best solution to support MIPS.
>
>I suggest talking to the people who helped Netflix and the like and see
>if they 
>can help.
>
>In any case, the provision of "don't drop until people have had time to
>react" 
>still applies.
>
>> >In order to determine if V8 can be made a mandatory component of Qt, we
>> >need
>> >
>> >to discuss the fate of the following platforms:
>> >    MIPS 32-bit big-endian
>> >    MIPS64 (both endians)
>> >    Sparc 32- and 64-bit (big endian)
>> >    PowerPC / POWER6 32- and 64-bit (big endian)
>> >    IA-64 (both endians)
>> >    SH4 and others
>> 
>> 95% of Qt users are using it on x86/x64 or ARM. I am not very tempted by
>> the idea of holding these 95% back to fully support processors that .1%
>>of
>> our users use.
>> 
>> With open governance, it can't be the project's goal to stay on a least
>> common denominator. We need to move ahead and create the best possible
>> platform if we want to stay relevant.
>> 
>> It's up to the people that have an interest in SH4 or IA-64 to help
>> provide full support for that platform. If nobody steps up, it will at
>> some point not be supported anymore.
>
>Agreed. But these people need time to do it.
>
>> Let's also not forget that Qt 4.8 is out there and working nicely. If
>>some
>> of the above platforms follow a bit later with working fully on Qt 5
>>it's
>> not the end of the world.
>
>No, but there's the danger of the temporary becoming the permanent.
>
>> >The following are the guidelines I suggest:
>> > - Qt Base must always compile on those platforms, with no API missing
>> >   (that means, we can't use V8's regular expression engine until the
>> >matter
>> >    is settled)
>> 
>> We can and should use it IMO. The reason is that this is a switch that
>> would also change the default syntax from Qt own syntax to a JS
>>compliant
>> syntax. I don't want to do this in a minor release.
>
>Agreed, which is why V8 regexp must work everywhere. Whatever may come
>out of 
>QtGui, QtWidgets, QtWebKit, QtDeclarative, at least QtCore needs to be
>everywhere.
>
>> > - Modules other than Qt Base may elect not to support some platforms
>> >where
>> >   they are not very relevant. Dropping of *current* support must be
>> >announced
>> >   and discussed, with the community given ample time to react,
>>including
>> >time
>> >   to develop code before the feature freeze (meaning: *after* the new
>> >   repository is live). The correct thing to do would be to give time
>> >before
>> >   the merging, but we've jumped the gun there.
>> 
>> I remember that you were part of many of the discussions. The move to V8
>> was also something I said in May already when announcing Qt 5. So one
>> can't really say that it wasn't announced.
>
>V8 was announced. V8 blocking the build of Qt Base and/or QtCore wasn't.
>
>And we still don't have the repository and mailing lists. If I want to do
>the 
>work, I need to be able to discuss things and time get my patches in.
>Before 
>feature freeze.

Yes, I'm painfully aware of the missing repository :(

Let's see how we manage this, but I am right now assuming that fixes for
platforms can go in for another while even after feature freeze.

>
>> >Note I managed to compile the ARM simulator on the MIPS target after
>> >modifying
>> >the source code, but I have no way of testing if it works. I will try
>>to
>> >do
>> >the same for IA-64 ILP32 little-endian and see if the test runs. If the
>> >simulator works, 32-bit little-endian platforms are probably safe. That
>> >leaves
>> >the 64-bit as well as 32-bit big-endian platforms to be tested.
>> 
>> The simulator should work on all platforms, and it's a way to get the
>>full
>
>It doesn't and that's the problem. The ARM simulator is supported right
>now on 
>i386 only. Not even x86-64 is supported. See above.

Hmmm... I didn't know that. I thought it was generic C++ code interpreting
ARM instructions. Kent, can you have a look?

Lars

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