GNU-compatible, BSD-licensed bc

[Warner Losh]

On Wed, Jan 9, 2019 at 5:33 AM Stefan Esser <se at freebsd.org> wrote:

> Am 08.01.19 um 22:35 schrieb Conrad Meyer:
> > Hi Stefan,
> >
> > Apologies, I misunderstood the idea.
> >
> > However, it seems like any port that depends on gnubc today could
> continue
> > to depend on gnubc on older branches until a suitable replacement
> > propagates into stable.  (And that would be less work :-).)
>
> Yes, but the work has already been done ;-)
>
> I've been exchanging private mails with Gavin and he has worked
> on his "bc", e.g. to make the included tests run on FreeBSD out
> of the box (they used to require GNU bc).
>
> A few small issues have been fixed and he is looking into another
> one (^D handling). Working on the port (and tests performed with
> its preliminary version) has already improved the quality of the
> code that is about to be imported into base ...
>
> If users actually try running with Gavin's bc (as a port) before
> it makes it into a release, there is a good chance that any
> unexpected incompatibilitiy (e.g., if it is compatible with GNU
> bc, but behaves differently from our current bc in base) is found
> in time.
>
> So, I intend to proceed with an import as a port, independently
> of the import into base, which I appreciate, too.
>

We've had several BSDL'd things that started life as a port. I think this
is a great strategy: make it available TODAY as a port (since the barrier
to entry is small), if it pans out, integrate into base.

Warner