[LLVMdev] Getting To Native Code

[Misha Brukman]

On Wed, Nov 12, 2003 at 08:31:35AM -0800, Reid Spencer wrote:
> On Wed, 2003-11-12 at 07:22, John Criswell wrote:
> > Funny you should mention that; getting a C library compiled to LLVM
> > code is one of the tasks on my plate.	:)
> 
> Good. If I can help, please let me know.

This is currently an open project; details here:

  http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/docs/OpenProjects.html#glibc

If you wish to jump into it, you would be more than welcome to. If you
do, please let the list know so there isn't a duplication of effort.

> > Please note that the Linux kernel project is still in its infancy and
> > won't be done for awhile.     :)
>
> Any ballpark ideas on when an alpha version could be available? Are we
> talking months or years here?

First of all, I would like to point out that the goal is *NOT* to compile Linux
to run natively on your favorite architecture; instead, we aim to compile Linux
to a bytecode file which can then be run in userspace via an execution
environment (i.e., code generator + implementation of OS services for a given
target). The goal here is to abstract away the hardware from the OS, using
these magical `intrinsics' that were mentioned. This means that Linux is ported
to run on a fundamentally new architecture, which we call LLVA. You can see
our MICRO paper on this topic:

  http://llvm.cs.uiuc.edu/pubs/2003-10-01-LLVA.html

This implies that it is not intended for end-user consumption but more
for a proof-of-concept and ongoing research potential.

That said, we don't really have an estimate for when this will be functional
and available. It's ongoing at this time, but as John said, in very early
stages.

-- 
Misha Brukman :: http://misha.brukman.net