link(macos): runtime-only binaries missing -framework CoreFoundation after #6923 (iana_time_zone → _CFRelease undefined)

[proggeramlug]

Summary

The runtime-only macOS link path no longer passes -framework CoreFoundation, but perry-runtime still pulls iana_time_zone, which references _CFRelease. Linking a runtime-only binary therefore fails with an undefined symbol.

Evidence

crates/perry-runtime/src/gc/tests/...::gc_side_table_roots_evacuation — an untouched test — fails identically under both the perry-dev and release profiles on current main. Observed while validating PR #6934 (unrelated change; the failure reproduces without it).

Symbol: _CFRelease, reached via iana_time_zone → perry-runtime.

Likely cause

PR #6923 — "perf(link): drop unused framework dylibs from runtime-only macOS binaries" (merged 2026-07-28) — removed framework dylibs from the runtime-only link line. CoreFoundation appears to have been dropped while a live dependency on it remained.

Suggested fix

Either re-add -framework CoreFoundation to the runtime-only macOS link path, or drop/feature-gate the iana_time_zone dependency for runtime-only builds if the timezone functionality is not required there.

Worth confirming whether the same reasoning removed any other still-referenced framework — a link-time symbol sweep against the trimmed set would catch siblings in one pass.

Note

Not a GC bug despite the failing test's name — the test simply happens to be one that links a runtime-only binary. A local workaround was used to unblock #6934's validation; this issue tracks the real fix.

[proggeramlug]

Reproducer (from the agent that surfaced this while validating #6934)

On an untouched checkout, with PERRY_RUNTIME_DIR pointed at a locally-built target/release:

cargo test --release -p perry --test gc_side_table_roots_evacuation

Fails on _CFRelease under both the perry-dev and release profiles.

Workaround (used to unblock #6934's validation, not a fix):

PERRY_EXTRA_LINK_ARGS="-framework CoreFoundation"

[proggeramlug]

Duplicate root cause of #6947, which has the fuller diagnosis (the exact link/build_and_run.rs gate condition, the temporal feature connection, and why per-PR CI cannot catch it — parity/compile-smoke are tag-push-only). Suggest tracking there; the reproducer in this issue still applies. Release-gating: it surfaces at tag time.

[proggeramlug]

Resolved by #6939 (83a6767ff), which explicitly removed the iana_time_zone/CoreFoundation dependency from runtime-only binaries and verified all seven Temporal gap programs link without -framework CoreFoundation. The fuller duplicate tracker #6947 was closed by the same change.