Re: [Mingw-users] Stop on first error?

[Keith M. <kei...@us...>]

On 25/08/2010, Peter Rockett <p.r...@sh...> wrote:
>   ...
>> This is the third time in a very short time I have had to tell this
>> story. It seems to me this message should be (more obviously) on the
>> site.

Isn't http://mingw.org/wiki/Getting_Started sufficiently obvious?

>> On top of that, I would like to urge you to do the following:
>> provide a method to install a recent version of gcc (other than
>> manual). Perhaps this means that mingw-get should be able to install
>> gcc 4 real soon,

All that is missing is a fragment -- okay, it's a fairly substantial
fragment -- of XML, to describe the package dependencies.

>> perhaps this means that you should adapt some
>> temporary install method as "official" until mingw-get is able to
>> install gcc 4. I am afraid you are shooting yourself in the foot and
>> losing users by not doing so. I don't like to have to mention other
>> mingw projects in order to be able to mention recent mingw installers.
>
> Unfortunately, have to say I agree! The first item you come to on the SF
> downloads page is "Automated MinGW Installer" which one would reasonably
> assume to be the THE installer.

And this is now mingw-get; MinGW-5.1.6 is dead, and buried.

> The user comments on SF mostly run along
> the lines of "great toolchain - nightmare install". The 5.1.6 installer
> is still getting ~2000 downloads a day.
>
> I was planning to have a look at the code for the old Nullsoft installer
> to see how easy this would be to update, if only for my own use, but
> haven't got far due to pressures of work.

Right.  That's exactly why mingw-get isn't ready yet -- at this moment in
the development cycle, there are only two developers who are actively
contributing to the effort of generating the needed XML description files;
both of us have constraints on *our* time.

> Might an update of the
> installer be a good short-term fix until mingw-get is ready[?]

If you want to contribute one, be my guest; I will not be wasting even
one more second on development of an NSIS based solution.  Your time
would likely be better spent on helping out with the mingw-get XML.

> (as a GUI)?

So, you think it necessary to provide a GUI installer for a product which
is designated for CLI use?  If a user can't type (at a CLI prompt):

   mingw-get install foo

how do you expect them to manage:

   gcc -o foo.exe foo.c

(or the more complex sequence of commands typical of a real project)?
IMO, a functional CLI capable installer is where the current focus needs
to be; a GUI wrapper can come later.

-- 
Regards,
Keith.