this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
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I still remember when Debian had problems with the 68000 autobuilders, because the fastest ones of those processors that existed literally could not compile packages fast enough to keep up with the uploads. I think they decided to add more autobuilders instead of give up on the architecture lol.
Forgive my ignorance, but do you have to compile for old architectures on the actual old CPUs? Like were they compiling debian for 486 on actual 486 cpus?
You can generally cross compile across architectures, but there can be instruction or build nuances that can cause hiccups. Also, you need to build everything against the target architecture as well, not just the kernel.
It's a little different scenario: You don't need to have a 486 to compile the Linux kernel for a 486. It's not even cross compilation, it's just setting particular flags and how to do the compile and what processor features to enable or not. It's probably useful to test it periodically on the actual processor but in a strict sense it's not needed.
You do, in general, need to be running on a 68000 to compile parts of the actual whole OS for 68000, since so much stuff is different or custom for each architecture and there is plenty of work involved without trying to introduce emulation or cross-compilation into the mix in any way.