Bergmann argued for this change because it would allow compiling the kernel with -std=gnu11, making it possible to rely on bleeding-edge C11 features
C11 is, at this point, a decade old. FreeBSD has shipped a base system compiler and libc that support it (except for some of the awful Fortran-envy bits of C99) for almost that long. We have code written in C++17 that builds on all major platforms (for a very generous definition of ‘major’, which includes Haiku).
The Linux kernel, in contrast, still compiles in gnu89 mode, a version of C that predates C having a notion of parallel execution by over two decades.
Fascinating story. This line made me sad though:
C11 is, at this point, a decade old. FreeBSD has shipped a base system compiler and libc that support it (except for some of the awful Fortran-envy bits of C99) for almost that long. We have code written in C++17 that builds on all major platforms (for a very generous definition of ‘major’, which includes Haiku).
The Linux kernel, in contrast, still compiles in gnu89 mode, a version of C that predates C having a notion of parallel execution by over two decades.