Skip to main content

The history of xPack GNU Arm Embedded GCC

February 2018​

This project commenced in February 2018 as one of the support tools for the GNU Arm Eclipse plug-ins, which were subsequently rebranded as GNU MCU Eclipse plug-ins and are now integrated into the Eclipse Embedded CDT.

The project was based on previous work from 2015 and 2016, when the Eclipse plug-ins were extended to support multiple toolchains.

The initial name of the package was GNU MCU Eclipse ARM Embedded GCC and was first published on npmjs.com as @gnu-mcu-eclipse/arm-none-eabi-gcc.

March 2018​

The first release of GNU MCU Eclipse ARM Embedded GCC was v6.3.1-1.1.

July 2019​

The project was renamed xPack GNU Arm Embedded GCC and the npm scope was changed from @gnu-mcu-eclipse to @xpack-dev-tools (in v7.3.1-1.2).

July 2020​

Support for 32/64-bit Arm GNU/Linux platforms (like Raspberry Pi) was added (in v9.3.1-1.1).

October 2020​

After extensive experimentation, support for Python scripting was added to GDB, using an embedded Python 3 instance (in v9.3.1-1.4).

October 2021​

In the Windows binaries, the MSVC runtime was replaced with the newer Universal C Runtime (UCRT) (in v10.3.1-2.1).

December 2021​

Support for Apple Silicon macOS was added (in v10.3.1-2.3).

May 2022​

Support for x86 Windows and x86 GNU/Linux (32-bit) was discontinued (in v11.2.1-1.1).

December 2022​

The project received a significant update by transitioning the build scripts from the unwieldy monolithic XBB Docker images to the more flexible and modular xpm packages. XBB version 5.0.0 marked a major milestone for the xPack project, as it was the first self-sustained release. This version enabled the creation of new binary packages utilising existing binary packages, eliminating the need for bespoke Docker images or other compiled tools.

August 2024​

The project underwent comprehensive restructuring. To streamline the top-level package.json by presenting only user-related definitions whilst concealing build-related ones, all build-related files were relocated to the build-assets folder. Furthermore, the development Git branch was renamed to xpack-development for enhanced clarity.

Support for TUI in GDB was added on Windows too (in v13.3.1-1.1).