I append a copy of an article on Hitec's web site concerning their 'new components' for gcc that allow it to compile for the C166 micro. Any comments?

Some Myths Dispelled About GNU-C For C166 (and Tricore)….

The C166 has two excellent "commercial" C compilers from Keil and Tasking. There is however a third compiler from Hightec EDV that is based on the GNU-C but which costs about the same as the two well known offerings. However there is a widespread belief that as this compiler is based on GNU-C, it is "free" and some have complained that Hightec's £2000 licence charge is unreasonable and not in the spirit of the Free Software Foundation. As a result, some people are using copies of the Hightec GNU-C for C166 downloaded from various websites or circulated by email.

In fact the licence position with the GNU-C for C166 is that the parts defined by Hightec to allow C166 code generation are proprietary and therefore are chargeable. This is (apparently) within the scope of the GNU T&C's and thus Hightec's work is not available from GNU free of charge. Indeed the first line of the GNU public licence says "free is not free" and here, "free" means unimpeded or unbounded rather than without charge. Thus it is acceptable to make money from GNU-derived software like the GNU-C compiler.

Programmers are not obliged to put into the public domain new components they have developed for GNU compilers. It is only changes to the core of the compiler that must be made public and lodged with GNU. Thus Hightec's C166 code generator and front-end processor are chargeable. Therefore people using the Hightec GNU-C without a Hightec licence are not strictly legal.

Hightec to some extent are doing what Red Hat and Montevista have done with Linux i.e. take loads of disparate pieces of software and make a shrink-wrapped, complete embedded toolchain, in this case for C166 (and Tricore).

If you have any queries on this, please email us!

Ian