Dear list readers,
>> I'm just trying to sensitize you for the consequences of your
>> compat-breaking changes, which are the sole reason for my
>> "derecommendation".
> Consider your point made, but understand this: TDM-GCC certainly has
> some critical differences from other GCC distributions, but (1) I've
> hopefully made them clear in the README, and (2) there is a
> well-thought-out reason for each one. Full compatibility with other GCC
> toolchains may be your preference, but it's only a preference.
>
> So I'm fine with you warning potential users of the incompatibility
> issues, as long as you don't deride it for shortcomings that don't exist. :)
i feel quite a bit at the orign of this discussion, so first of all if i
misdirected any of the user lists, please accept my apologies if i originated
that thing.
Now, i would like to develop a bit from my point of view (Newcomer to the whole
MinGW-w64 universe, including user builds etc).
When someone says that recommending a user build that is very different from
the regular branch isn't a good idea, i really understand what is meant in
terms of compatibility and risk, "what if your code can only compile with this
branch? Are you ready to migrate the code to the standard branch when the day
this specific build isn't supported / maintained anymore?", and it is very
important that newcomers understand the specifics of each build. i myself found
the recommendation interesting, and at no point of the discussion i felt that
this or that user build is The evil while this other is The good.
Now about TDM's specific build (And i really don't know about "under the hood"
specifics for now, but my first look on it gave me these thoughts):
- i love the fact that there is a build around that offers an installer (TDM's
build), because even if many newcomers know about Linux distros and unix, some
of us only know about Windows, and even when they are developers, they can be
discouraged by "from-source" mess.
- Also, such build with an installer offers users the possibility to be kept
up-to-date without having to keep an eye on what's going on, because such build
offers a aptitude / rvm -like installer which honestly i would love to use for
an "official" version of MinGW-w64 too. i cannot imagine having to update my
whole linux distros by having to read here and there about each new package!
apt-get upgrade!
- When i stand in front of something i don't understand at a first glance, i
like to have a "key in hand" solution to be able to easily test at least, and
understand how it works faster than having to start from scratch.
- I really can understand this aspect of each one's "preferences". i love
Debian on top of any other system. That's a preference, and i understand that
the same kind of feeling can arise when working on a daily basis with for
instance a compiler toolchain. That's why this list should (But that's just my
feeling) encourage people to test every and each user's build, as they will
also encourage "libre arbitre".
Just my points of view, without any disrespect at all! i find myself enjoying a
lot Ruben's build, but it isn't really a "preference" yet, that's because i
require my toolchain to build Qt, and only a native one can (Or at least that's
what i have understood so far). And that proves the need of diverse user's
builds, i would have dropped my attempt to switch from the MSVC compiler if no
user build fulfilling my need wouldn't have been around, and that would have
been a shame.
Now, what i would really like to see (And would be a good solution for
newcomers to make their choice knowing the pros / cons of each user build),
would be a "table-like" comparison on the official mingw-w64 page (One row per
user build / flavor, one column for each characteristic, pro / cons, like i
love to find on Wikipedia when it comes to anything else i'm new to as a first
look).
Anyway, and as a conclusion, i find myself very comfortable with the whole
MinGW-w64 project, for a single simple reason: each time i asked something, i
was kindly answered by users, regardless if the question was about "their"
build or about another user's build. With that in mind, i think the whole
project proves itself to be in a coherent momentum, and i really don't feel
like anyone is trying to push "his" build more than another by pride or
anything.
That being said, i will for sure try a lot of other user build around, and have
more fun with mingw-w64 right now :)
Pierre.
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