diff --git a/.waf-tools/default-compiler-flags.py b/.waf-tools/default-compiler-flags.py
index 7544cec..e11f7f1 100644
--- a/.waf-tools/default-compiler-flags.py
+++ b/.waf-tools/default-compiler-flags.py
@@ -4,17 +4,37 @@
 
 def options(opt):
     opt.add_option('--debug', '--with-debug', action='store_true', default=False, dest='debug',
-                   help='''Compile in debugging mode without optimizations (-O0 or -Og)''')
+                   help='''Compile in debugging mode with minimal optimizations (-O0 or -Og)''')
 
 def configure(conf):
-    cxx = conf.env['CXX_NAME'] # CXX_NAME represents generic name of the compiler
+    conf.start_msg('Checking C++ compiler version')
+
+    cxx = conf.env['CXX_NAME'] # CXX_NAME is the generic name of the compiler
+    ccver = tuple(int(i) for i in conf.env['CC_VERSION'])
+    errmsg = ''
+    warnmsg = ''
     if cxx == 'gcc':
+        if ccver < (4, 8, 2):
+            errmsg = ('The version of gcc you are using is too old.\n'
+                      'The minimum supported gcc version is 4.8.2.')
         flags = GccFlags()
     elif cxx == 'clang':
+        if ccver < (3, 4, 0):
+            errmsg = ('The version of clang you are using is too old.\n'
+                      'The minimum supported clang version is 3.4.0.')
         flags = ClangFlags()
     else:
+        warnmsg = 'Note: %s compiler is unsupported' % cxx
         flags = CompilerFlags()
-        Logs.warn('The code has not yet been tested with %s compiler' % cxx)
+
+    if errmsg:
+        conf.end_msg('.'.join(conf.env['CC_VERSION']), color='RED')
+        conf.fatal(errmsg)
+    elif warnmsg:
+        conf.end_msg('.'.join(conf.env['CC_VERSION']), color='YELLOW')
+        Logs.warn(warnmsg)
+    else:
+        conf.end_msg('.'.join(conf.env['CC_VERSION']))
 
     areCustomCxxflagsPresent = (len(conf.env.CXXFLAGS) > 0)
 
@@ -80,6 +100,7 @@
     self.end_msg(' '.join(supportedFlags))
     self.env.prepend_value('LINKFLAGS', supportedFlags)
 
+
 class CompilerFlags(object):
     def getGeneralFlags(self, conf):
         """Get dict of CXXFLAGS, LINKFLAGS, and DEFINES that are always needed"""
@@ -97,18 +118,25 @@
     """
     This class defines basic flags that work for both gcc and clang compilers
     """
+    def getGeneralFlags(self, conf):
+        flags = super(GccBasicFlags, self).getGeneralFlags(conf)
+        flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-std=c++11']
+        return flags
+
     def getDebugFlags(self, conf):
         flags = super(GccBasicFlags, self).getDebugFlags(conf)
         flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-O0',
+                              '-Og', # gcc >= 4.8, clang >= 4.0
                               '-g3',
                               '-pedantic',
                               '-Wall',
                               '-Wextra',
                               '-Werror',
-                              '-Wno-unused-parameter',
-                              '-Wno-error=maybe-uninitialized', # Bug #1615
                               '-Wno-error=deprecated-declarations', # Bug #3795
+                              '-Wno-error=maybe-uninitialized', # Bug #1615
+                              '-Wno-unused-parameter',
                               ]
+        flags['LINKFLAGS'] += ['-fuse-ld=gold', '-Wl,-O1']
         return flags
 
     def getOptimizedFlags(self, conf):
@@ -120,32 +148,16 @@
                               '-Wextra',
                               '-Wno-unused-parameter',
                               ]
+        flags['LINKFLAGS'] += ['-fuse-ld=gold', '-Wl,-O1']
         return flags
 
 class GccFlags(GccBasicFlags):
-    def getGeneralFlags(self, conf):
-        flags = super(GccFlags, self).getGeneralFlags(conf)
-        version = tuple(int(i) for i in conf.env['CC_VERSION'])
-        if version < (4, 6, 0):
-            conf.fatal('The version of gcc you are using (%s) is too old.\n' %
-                       '.'.join(conf.env['CC_VERSION']) +
-                       'The minimum supported gcc version is 4.6.0.')
-        elif version < (4, 7, 0):
-            flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-std=c++0x']
-        else:
-            flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-std=c++11']
-        if version < (4, 8, 0):
-            flags['DEFINES'] += ['_GLIBCXX_USE_NANOSLEEP'] # Bug #2499
-        return flags
-
     def getDebugFlags(self, conf):
         flags = super(GccFlags, self).getDebugFlags(conf)
         version = tuple(int(i) for i in conf.env['CC_VERSION'])
         if version < (5, 1, 0):
             flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-Wno-missing-field-initializers']
-        flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-Og', # gcc >= 4.8
-                              '-fdiagnostics-color', # gcc >= 4.9
-                              ]
+        flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-fdiagnostics-color'] # gcc >= 4.9
         return flags
 
     def getOptimizedFlags(self, conf):
@@ -159,7 +171,6 @@
 class ClangFlags(GccBasicFlags):
     def getGeneralFlags(self, conf):
         flags = super(ClangFlags, self).getGeneralFlags(conf)
-        flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-std=c++11']
         if Utils.unversioned_sys_platform() == 'darwin':
             flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-stdlib=libc++']
             flags['LINKFLAGS'] += ['-stdlib=libc++']
@@ -168,24 +179,24 @@
     def getDebugFlags(self, conf):
         flags = super(ClangFlags, self).getDebugFlags(conf)
         flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-fcolor-diagnostics',
-                              '-Wno-unused-local-typedef', # Bugs #2657 and #3209
-                              '-Wno-error=unneeded-internal-declaration', # Bug #1588
                               '-Wno-error=deprecated-register',
+                              '-Wno-error=ignored-qualifiers',
+                              '-Wno-error=infinite-recursion', # Bug #3358
                               '-Wno-error=keyword-macro', # Bug #3235
+                              '-Wno-error=unneeded-internal-declaration', # Bug #1588
+                              '-Wno-keyword-macro',
                               '-Wno-nested-anon-types',
                               '-Wno-sign-compare',
-                              '-Wno-keyword-macro',
-                              '-Wno-error=ignored-qualifiers',
-                              '-Wno-error=infinite-recursion',
+                              '-Wno-unused-local-typedef', # Bugs #2657 and #3209
                               ]
         return flags
 
     def getOptimizedFlags(self, conf):
         flags = super(ClangFlags, self).getOptimizedFlags(conf)
         flags['CXXFLAGS'] += ['-fcolor-diagnostics',
-                              '-Wno-unused-local-typedef', # Bugs #2657 and #3209
+                              '-Wno-keyword-macro',
                               '-Wno-nested-anon-types',
                               '-Wno-sign-compare',
-                              '-Wno-keyword-macro',
+                              '-Wno-unused-local-typedef', # Bugs #2657 and #3209
                               ]
         return flags