I do not think there is a reason to fork. Just contribute. I found GCC community very welcoming. But maybe not come in with an "I need to take back the compiler from evil compiler writers" attitude.
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From personal experience, they couldn't care less if they can argue it's "undefined". All they do is worship The Holy Standard. They follow the rules blindly without ever thinking whether it makes sense.
But maybe not come in with an "I need to take back the compiler from evil compiler writers" attitude.
They're the ones who started this hostility in the first place.
If even someone like Linus Torvalds can't get them to change their ways, what chances are there for anyone else?
Okay, so you're not up to making a boringcc compiler from the nine-years old proposal of TFA's author, and you don't believe that it's possible to persuade the C implementers to adopt different semantics, so... what do you propose then? It can be only three things, really: either "stop writing crypto algorithms altogether", or "write them in some different, sane language", or "just business as usual: keep writing them in C while complaining about those horrible implementers of C compilers". But perhaps you have a fourth option?
P.S. "All they do is worship The Holy Standard. They follow the rules blindly without ever thinking whether it makes sense" — well, no. Who do you think writes The Holy Standard? Those compiler folks actually comprise quite a number of the members of JTC1/SC22/WG14, and they are also the ones who actually get to implement that standard. So to quote JeanHeyd Meneide of thephd.dev, "As much as I would not like this to be the case, users – me, you and every other person not hashing out the bits ‘n’ bytes of your Frequently Used Compiler — get exactly one label in this situation: bottom bitch".
This was a very good example for the nonconstructive attitude I was talking about.
> They're the ones who started this hostility in the first place.
"How dare these free software developers not do exactly what I want."
Talk about being entitled. If you can't manage to communicate you ideas in a way that will convince others to do the work you want to see done then you need to either pay (and find someone willing to do the work for payment) or do the work yourself.
I don’t really think there is either, but I figured it was a funny way to present the “there never was anything to prevent you from forking in the first place” argument.