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The history of Binary Development Tools

May 2019​

The xpack-dev-tools GitHub organization, established in May 2019, hosts the xPack Binary Development Tools.

However, the initial projects date back several years earlier, originally forming part of the GNU ARM Eclipse project:

  • openocd, qemu-arm date from 2015
  • arm-none-eabi-gcc dates from 2016
  • riscv-none-elf-gcc dates from 2017

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.