[Mingw-users] Did the linker get faster? [Was: supplement to ...undefined reference to '_imp__FT_ListDevices@12']

[Greg C. <chi...@co...>]

On 2005-01-13 02:11 AM, Michael Gerdau wrote:
> 
> The version you are refering to presumably
> is dlltool 2.15.90.

Although you're discussing dlltool specifically, I think
the linker 'ld' is version-numbered the same way, so...

> I strongly prefer 2.15.91 over 2.14.90 because the former contains
> numerous enhancements - last not least the speed of the linker had
> been increased by at least a magnitude (you'll recognize if you
> regularly build large c++ projects). This enhancement alone changed
> it from "barely useable" to "ok".

...now I'm intrigued. Where you say "the linker" here,
do you mean 'ld' as opposed to 'dlltool'?

Here's why I ask. I recently changed from gcc-2.95.2-1
to gcc-3.2.3, because I finally got rid of an ancient
library written in a non-standard C++ dialect that
recent compilers reject. I had been planning to get
my production system stabilized with the fairly old
MinGW-3.1.0-1.exe package released 2003-09-15, which
contains
   GNU ld version 2.13.90 20030111
because, historically, my coworkers have had difficulty
installing individual components correctly.

But, now that there's a new MinGW package (thanks),
if the linker's much faster, then that may be a reason
to move to the current release sooner--even though I'd
expect it to introduce some unknown new issues.