Subject: Minimalist GNU-Win32
From: [email-masked] (Colin Peters)

17 Oct 1996 05:35:19 -0700
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In-reply-to: Geoffrey Noer's message of Thu, 17 Oct 1996 01:05:40 -0700 (PDT) <[email-masked]>
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> From: Geoffrey Noer <[email-masked]>
> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 01:05:40 -0700 (PDT)
> 
> Colin Peters taps on the keyboard:
> > Some time ago I mentioned that I was working on getting GCC as distributed
> > by Cygnus decoupled from the cygwin.dll library so I could write new,
> > non-UNIX-flavoured Win32 programs using GCC.
> [...]
> 
> It is a goal to be able to create Win32 programs using gcc that don't
> require the cygwin.dll.  I am in the midst of integrating Scott
<snip>

I'm glad to hear it. In fact, my package of files only serves to illustrate
that it is already possible to do this (make 'pure' Win32 programs) using
GNU-Win32 b16, possibly in conjunction with other free packages such as
Scott's. Actually it was possible with b14 too.

In fact it's not even that hard. The most trouble I had was writing the
header files for CRTDLL.DLL, and even that was only a few weeks work (so
far :) ).

Let's just say that I'm posting this as a public service for those people
who want to start working on such software now, or maybe who want to help
out. Hopefully it will, at least, generate some interest in this slightly
different goal.

I'd like to point out that I think GNU-Win32 and Cygwin32 (or whatever it
ends up being called) are quite possibly the greatest thing since sliced
bread. I love that stuff, bugs and all! But, I'd also like to see the slightly
different goal of a 'Win32-ish' free compiler realized. I really do think
that, for now, Cygnus would be best off trying to perfect the GNU-Win32
project... making it possible to compile and use almost any GNU-ish UNIX
program on Win32. Writing new Win32 programs from scratch is, with good
reason, secondary to this goal.

So, my stuff is a hack. But it's a hack that works (more or less). Maybe it
will provide a starting point or at least a focus for efforts to take the
work that Cygnus has done already and bring it over completely to Win32.
Maybe it will start a whole new porting effort with a different goal.
Maybe it will die a silent death :). Who knows? But, as the people at FSF
themselves have said: "The more free software the better!"

Maybe I should put it like this: the Minimalist GNU-Win32 homepage is sort
of a big postcard saying "Hey, I'm interested in helping get some free
software developed! This is the kind of approach I'm thinking about."

Whew. Sorry, shouldn't go on like that (but if you went to my web pages
you know I *do* go on, and on and on... :) ).

Later eh?
Colin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colin Peters ------------ Saga Univ. Dept. of Information Science, Saga, JAPAN
http://www.fu.is.saga-u.ac.jp/~colin/home.html - [email-masked]
コリン ピーターズ - 佐賀大学理工学部情報科学科情報基礎学講座
                    - Current favorite kanji: 晴れ 芝生 -

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