Quote Originally Posted by tabstop View Post
The main point I was hoping you'd get to is that, so far as I can see, with all these questions about endianness and packing etc, the native format (i.e. how the struct is already stored) is The Right Answer >95% of the time. If you're in a situation where you actually have to choose one endianness over another, you'll know it well ahead of time. So why not start there and change it only if necessary?
How many corporations actually compile their own software on multiple compilers... Most are buying "prepackaged" systems because of the liability issues (it gives them someone to sue) or they are heavily standardized on a single build system... for the very reasons cited.

It's only the dumazz little skript kiddies that mess with multiple compilers or care a rats backside about open source or multi-platform...