# icecc/icecream

Distributed compiler with a central scheduler to share build load

Repository: https://github.com/icecc/icecream
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/icecc-icecream
Language: C++
License: GPL-2.0
License Family: copyleft
Last push: 2026-03-04T22:13:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 54/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 70, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5062, "days_push": 182, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1817, forks 265 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:40.066303+00:00)

## What it is
Icecream is a distributed compiler system, created by SUSE and based on distcc, that spreads C/C++ compile jobs across remote machines for parallel builds. Unlike distcc, it uses a central scheduler that dynamically routes compile jobs to the fastest available machine.

## Use cases
- speed up large C++ builds by using idle machines on the network
- distribute compile jobs across a shared compute cluster
- replace distcc with a scheduler that picks the fastest free node
- set up cross-compilation across heterogeneous machines
- combine distributed builds with ccache

## When to choose
- you have multiple networked machines and slow C/C++ builds
- you want dynamic job scheduling instead of distcc's static setup
- you need cross-compilation support in a distributed build

## When to avoid
- you build on a single machine with no spare network nodes
- your build is not C/C++ compiler based
- you cannot open the required network ports due to firewall restrictions

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: compiler, build-tool, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, performance
- platform: bsd, cross-platform, cli
- tags: distributed-compilation, distcc-alternative, build-acceleration, scheduler, c-cpp, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- icecc/icecream (main) score 54

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:40.066303+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:20:11.473647+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/icecc/icecream (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:40.066303+00:00, sha b56362b9ae95)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.