Message-ID: From: Robert Humphris To: "'Dominique DOT Biesmans AT ping DOT be'" Cc: "'djGpp list'" Subject: RE: Win32 support for DJGPP Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 10:13:29 -0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thanks for a reply, when I write something its nice to get a response, please note: This was not a troll. >The point is that the libraries from cygnus are the problem. Since >they are under the GPL license, you are under serious restrictions as >far as publishing programs that are linked to their libs is concerned. very true, but Windriver systems sell the cygnus compiler and libraries, along with their development system that is written using Cygwin32... they also package tcl/tk for adding extra functionality to their environment, perhaps this may be the way to go, I have not looked out for it, but I feel sure that they did not port it themselves > >I'm not a windows-fanatic. (I think it has serious drawbacks, though >it's improving (e.g. NT4)). But windows is a little more than a 'nice >gui front'. The point is that it would be nice to have a free >Windows-development environment in the same way DJGPP is a free >DOS-development environment. And apart from creating full-blown >windows applications it would also be possible to compile >console-applications, without any Windows-specific code. Yes I agree that it would be nice to have this, but is the work worth while? I said that it was purely used for a nice gui front, as it seems that most of the people who use this fine package, are aiming to write their own games, and/or learn C/C++ adding windows programming may we be a little too daunting for people such as this, personally I would like to see an easy way to write windows programs, and if you could tell me the way that this is possible I would gladly use it... I hope that you do not suggest Borlands or Microsofts class libraries, as I know software engineers & p.h.d's with years of experience who find the use and implementation these a nightmare, if you put the people who are just starting out, in that evironment you will have a lot of disgruntled ex-users, the strength of a proect such as this is measured by the number of users that it has. > >DJGPP with win32-support could e.g. be used to write games using DirextX. Or to port Allegro to windows... Yea why not? DirectX is okay, allegro is excellent, but do we need windows running the show? After all directX is only now allowing users to do what allegro has been allowing them for sometime. Many of the professional compaines do not use DirectX, and prefer to use the libraries and routines that they always have, the principle being that if you use what they provide, they will lead, and we will follow. > >By having a free development environment for windows, we wouldn't be >so dependant on the tools that microsoft creates. Well what is DirectX? and what happens when Win96/7/8/9 comes out and changes the result of the years of work that the likes of you and me have ( saying that we do decide to attack the WIN32 development system ) put into it? Would it not be better to a) develop better DOS tools? b) write a micro kernel for games/applications that allow us all the functionality that we want without the overheads of windows etc? Don't get me wrong, if there are serious plans to go ahead with a Win32 support package for DJGPP I will willingly add my name to those who would provide resources, code, time, and money. But many projects loose direction if no one takes the opposing standpoint and asks some questions. It is just that in during my career I have written software for many operating systems, and none of them are perfect, all are open to critisim, and none of them do exactly what you want them to. If there are plans to write the Win32 stuff please include me in them! >>My views are not those of my companies, they are my own, and no one will >>take them away from me > >I'm trying :-) Not even close ;-> >Rob Humphris > >