[Libmesh-devel] OS X Compilers

[Cody P. <cod...@gm...>]

I'm putting this on the list in case anyone wants to chime in, but I'm
hoping that Paul might have some thoughts suggestions.

We (the MOOSE team) are looking for a path forward on which compilers we
want to use on OS X 10.8.  Our single biggest holdup is our need for
FORTRAN support.

Currently we are using the Apple supplied compilers (4.2.1 branch) but we
are finding it increasingly difficult to continue on this Path.  With the
recent breakage of dynamic templated casts, and the lack of a ready to go
Xcode integrated Fortran compiler on 10.8 we are at an impasse.  As I
demonstrated yesterday, we were able to build with GCC using
"legacy" compatibility switches - yuck!

Paths Forward:
Clang - This would be nice, however I'm not really liking our FORTRAN
options if we go this route.  There's this "dragonEgg" thingy we might be
able to use but it feels hackish and is labeled as experimental.

GNU GCC: This is probably our best option.  The question is, do we build it
from source, download binaries, or get it through Fink/Mac Ports?  There
are various advantages/disadvantages to each of these. Paul, you've been
using GNU GCC (as opposed to Apple GCC) for sometime now.  I know you've
answered this before but what are your thoughts challenges with this?  Have
you ever messed with the Fortran piece?  Derek found this link this morning
so we are about to try this guys suggestion now:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12316780/how-to-compile-distributable-fortran-binaries-on-mac-os-x-mountain-lion

hpc.sourceforge.net:  We've been down this road in the past too.  In the
past this guy used to put out a really nice suite of pre-built compilers.
 We had some negative experiences when GCC 4.5 was released
and abandoned ship.  We might look at this again though.

Thanks everyone in advance for your thoughts on this subject,
Cody