To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <gnuwin32-users@lists.sourceforge.net>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 5:14 PM
Subject: Compiling GNU Packages for Win32 (was: [Groff] groff CVS now needs texinfo 4.8)
IMO, this approach, as adopted by groff, is the most appropriate method for handling the idiosyncrasies of differing operating platforms -- place *all* the non-standard stuff in a single header file, and #include it as the *last* included header, in *every* source file. Of course, this means that it becomes necessary to patch the source packages, to accommodate this strategy. In an ideal GNU world, there would be *one* standard `nonposix.h' file, shared by *all* GNU projects, and all GNU sources would already #include it -- unfortunately, even the GNU world isn't this ideal.
I think that in general and in the ideal GNU world you are right. Originally I started patching the Mingw headers as a temporary step towards creating a C run time library for MS-Windows that is fully compatible with Glibc and its headers. However, such a project appeared to be too large, and I changed it towards providing some Glibc functions for MS-Windows that would make compilation of GNU packages easier. This is the present status and ambition of Libgw32c. The fact that Libgw32c uses several Glibc headers or parts of them, reflects the original ambition. I think for the present purposes a single "nonposix.h" could also suffice, together with a library with additional functions. As for this nonposix.h and library, perhaps adding them to the gnulib project would be better as a more permanent solution.
Kees
------------------------------------------------------- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595&alloc_id=14396&op=click _______________________________________________ GnuWin32-Users mailing list GnuWin32-Users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gnuwin32-users
