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gcc does the exact same thing and is packaged in most distros, so no. "Binary blob" in the context of free software is generally a blob which does not have ope

gcc does the exact same thing and is packaged in most distros, so no. "Binary blob" in the context of free software is generally a blob which does not have open code behind it. This is not the case with Rust or GCC, the bootstrapping binary can be obtained -- in theory from a long chain of sources, in practice by compiling the source from a previous bootstrapping binary. There is a trusting trust issue here, of course.

coldpie 10y ago
> There is a trusting trust issue here, of course. In case anyone doesn't know, this is referencing a famous paper: https://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf https://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thomp... Some further discussion: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/01/countering_trus.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/01/countering_tr...