Move selected functionality out of the Hercules proper and into separate externally built and maintained External Packages, keeping only the resulting static libs.
This is an initial proof-of-concept commit that moves decNumber and SoftFloat out of Hercules and into separate externally maintained repositories. Hercules now only links with the resulting static lib files, thereby reducing Hercules's overall code footprint making it easier to build and maintain (i.e. making it more "nimble").
Other functionality is envisioned to eventually be moved out of Hercules and into separate "External Package" repositories as well (such as the channel subsystem and device emulation for example), eventually reducing Hercules down to its core functionality: accurate emulation of the core architectural instruction set.
Fish (David B. Trout)