From: Curt Hibbs <ml.chibbs@...>
Date: 2006-07-20T00:29:46+09:00
Subject: Re: One-Click Installer: MinGW? or VC2005?

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On 7/19/06, Kevin Williams <kevwil@gmail.com> wrote:

> Curt Hibbs wrote:
> > This is the whole point of this thread. It appears that the only safe
> > thing
> > is that the Ruby runtime and all extensions that its uses (both those
> > included with the one-click installer and those provided by third
> > parties)
> > need to be using the same compiler and that compiler needs to be freely
> > available.
> >
> > I have two choices VS2005 Express and MinGW. What I really want to know
> > (as
> > succinctly as possible) is what the pros and cons are for each path.
> >
> > Curt
>
> What we're really talking about is building all kinds of unix-derived
> tools on Windows. Ruby, OpenSSL, IConv, ZLib - all the common things on
> a POSIX-based system. If Ruby and all third-party extensions need to be
> build using the same compiler, then we're talking about industry
> standardization for porting to Windows. That in itself in a large
> barrier. So, any unix-derived tool running on Windows may need to be
> recompiled to work smoothly with any other.
>
> So my question is which represents the lowest barrier to entry for
> extension developers? If MinGW install & usage can be made simple for
> the mouse-addicted Windows user, then MinGW it is (see Charlie's post
> about getting MinGW to actually work). Until then, I suspect there will
> be a lot of justification for VC.
>
> I vote for MinGW for the following reasons.
>
> * It's more compatible with the standard unix build tools and processes.
> * Making a working MinGW system is something a handful of folks could
> put together and pass along to everyone interested in making Ruby
> extensions. This is much less work than each extension developer
> figuring out how to recompile the third-party libs (i.e. MySQL).
> * It seems to run faster, which helps when demoing to
> Pointy-Haired-Bosses in Microsoft-centric shops.
>
> I surprised myself, beause I have VC and have no clue how to use MinGW
> (I'll have to google for it just to find the web page!).


Wikipedia has a good description:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MinGW

Curt

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