Hmm.To get the code to actually compile+link without Unixish headers and libs is a different story. For me it was beyond my possibilities, and I'm sure the situation is similar for most embedded developers seeking for a GUI. And even if I managed to port it for a specific snapshot, I couldn't stay up to date with the development.
This shoudln't be too hard-PicoGUI's operating system requirements at
runtime are pretty small, and don't include TCP/IP when you're using
pgserver as a library rather than a separate process.
Linux folks will always find a better solution when they exploit their possibilities :-) Consequently, PicoGUI will never build on a system with minimal tools.The build system, though, I'd always felt was too simple rather than too complex. It doesn't keep track of dependencies, so it's easy to enable a video driver but not realize it also needs input driver X, VBL Y, and a few other assorted doodads.
Fundamentally all the build system has to do is generate a config.h and figure out what files need to be compiled. I think the current system, or something like it, needs to stay in place for picogui to be easy to configure on most systems. Manually editable config files would be doable too- maybe something like what busybox uses.
There are also certain cases when the build system has to do more than what's mentioned above. When you use compiled-in .BDF fonts, there's a perl script that converts the .BDF fonts to source code which then gets compiled in. Perl is cross-platform enough, but there would need to be a good way to invoke that.
A more portable build system would be great, but it really needs to also
be good enough people would want to use it on linux in place of the
current build system. Having multiple build systems would surely just lead to headaches in testing later.
IMO the build system restriction is not as important as the target restriction, but both come together. The effect is a Unix-only show. A pity, since I'm sure PicoGUI would have much more active developers if architecture independence was a design goal, just like lwIP in the networking area.
All the best Peter
On Thu, Mar 11, 2004 at 11:02:03AM +0100, Peter Graf wrote:
Micah wrote:
Well, it's not the bugs that disappoint me, it's the lack of forethoughtPicoGUI can do things that TinyX or Qt/E can't. I'm sure it would be used in a lot of projects, and have a good number of developers, if it targets the embedded market without the Unixish requirements on both the build tools and the target side.
I had when putting together PicoGUI's architecture. The biggest thing that
bothers me still is how it does clipping of 2D primitives. PicoGUI was a great
learning experience for me, but I'm a little surprised people still use it.
Still, if other developers are finding things PicoGUI does for their project
that TinyX or Qt/E can't, that's a good thing :)
Embedded targets have lots of diverging tools and operating systems, or even lack any OS and only use custom specific software. But very often the requirement for _networking_ or _GUI_ comes up sooner or later.
For networking there is a very nice solution that supports the whole range of the embedded world: lwIP. All it requires is a simple C Compiler, Make, manually editable configuration files, and specified architecture specific functions. For a nice GUI there is no such software. This is the area where PicoGUI could become famous!
I'm sure I sound naive to you, and I know I'm oversimplifying, but my plea is: Remove the Unixish build tool and target requirements, and PicoGUI will become an active project! Target the whole range of embedded! I'm not talking theory. I needed a network stack and a GUI. I've been able to port lwIP, but I'm not able to port PicoGUI. I'm sure a similar decision process will happen throughout the (non-Unixish) embedded range.
All the best
Peter
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