I am for option 3 FIX THE WINDOWS NATIVE SUPPORT An initial effort is worth updating the support and I we can add a native test environment to be sure that it builds daily
Alin On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 12:22 PM Nathan Hartman <hartman.nat...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 8:25 PM Gregory Nutt <spudan...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I would like to open a discussion for 72 hours then call a vote. The > > topic is "Should we remove Windows native build support?" > > > > What is the Windows native build? Is is a build option that supports > > building NuttX in a pure Windows environment such as from a Windows IDE > > or from CMD/PowerShell command line. It differs primarily in that it > > cannot use Bash features or Bash .sh scripts, but instead must use > > commands from CMD.exe and .bat scripts. > > > > Please see the discussion here that is leading to the vote: > > https://github.com/apache/incubator-nuttx/pull/102 > > > > I think this needs a vote because (1) it is clear contradiction to the > > Inviolables and (2) it could have significant, negative impact to NuttX > > users down the road (although I don't think any current NuttX user would > > be impacted). The cost vs the benefit is not entirely clear to me. > > > > PRO Removal: > > > > * The Windows native native support is seldom used and lags the POSIX > > environment builds. As a consequence, it is usually broken. > > Historically, people who need the native have to contribute fixes to > > get the build back into working shape. > > * Documentation current claims that NuttX supports the Windows native > > build but that build is never verified and is probably not working > > at any given time. > > * The Windows native build adds a lot complexity to the build system. > > > > ANTI Removal > > > > * Although, the Windows native build is probably broken at any given > > time, it has historically not been a huge effort to get it back into > > shape. That might be different now since there has been a > > significant re-write to the apps/ build, in particular. > > * There are users whose customer base absolutely requires the Windows > > native build. Good user oriented support would require that we > > support the Windows the native build. > > * Removing the Windows native build for reasons of convenience and > > expediency and without regard to the needs of the NuttX user is very > > much in contradiction to the OS principles (i.e., the Inviolables). > > > > Please offer your opinion. You should not take the position of someone > > who only cares about your personal use of Linux. Please think in terms > > of the bigger picture of what is good for the project and for the users > > of the project in the long run. > > > > I will end the discussion and start the vote in the evening of January > 18. > > > I would prefer that we keep the ability to build on native Windows. That is > still the most prolific OS and is used heavily in the embedded development > world. Every microcontroller vendor I've worked with seems to support > Windows based tools first and other platforms as an option. Sometimes other > platforms are not supported at all. We already have the build system in > place. If we could have a buildbot running nightly build tests then we'd be > assured of its continued quality. Also we would keep in the spirit of the > INVIOLABLES, which, as you've said before, we shouldn't violate for our own > convenience or expediency. > > Nathan >
