From: billtj@... (Bill Tj)
Date: 2001-11-22T03:34:18+09:00
Subject: [ruby-talk:26053] Re: New RubyGarden Poll: Windows support

Hi,

I just read the entire threat on this topic, because I just tried to
compile Ruby extension in C as described in the Programming Ruby book.
 However, because I am using Ruby under Windows, of course I
encountered difficulty.

I really hope that the MinGW (or cygwin) option will still always
exist.  As already mentioned, even if all other parts of Ruby are
compiled using MSVC, but if I can link my own C extension using MinGW,
then I don't have any problem.

I think it is really important that creating the C extension should be
free.  Although a person already said that using Ruby is never free
because we have to pay for the hardware and the OS, of course
everybody must have some kind of computer hardware these days, and a
computer hardware is never without an OS.  I think the majority of us
have a PC with Windows OS that can be obtained relatively cheaply
these days, even if we don't use Ruby.  But then, unless we are
Windows developers, usually we don't have MSVC.  I am attacted to Ruby
in the first place because it is free.  Now, if I have to pay for
(even just $50 for some standard version of) MSVC, then probably I
will never extend Ruby using C.  I don't have access to linux or unix.

For the sake of Ruby growth, therefore, I think it is important that
the free compilation option always exists.

Regards,

Bill