Can I simply change/replace the gcc version to newer release?
Conditionally only, valid mostly for the minor release number. You may usually not switch the gcc compiler without the corresponding libs, at least libc.a/so. Since the whole kernel (and all Linux utilities) depends on libc, it can be a dangerous task. Also the libFlagShip.a/so communicates with libc, so these must match to each other. Especially the gcc 3.x produces different objects from gcc 2.x (and gcc 4.x differs from gcc 3.x), hence these may not be mixed. Also in some RH distributions, different gcc compiler (and library) is used, see details here. In doubt, always consult the release notes of gcc, here an extract from: “…changes between gcc 2.x and gcc 3.1 were comprehensive, including changes to name mangling, exception handling, and class layout and alignment. The changes between 3.1 and 3.3 are much smaller, but are still large enough to prevent a mixed C++ program from operating correctly. Do not link C or C++ modules compiled with one of these compilers against modules c
