I would just like to add to the support for a binary distribution. Just a few weeks ago I was exchanging email with the writers of wxAstroCapture and mentioned PLPlot. They had heard of it but found it too difficult to build so used something else. I remember when I first attempted to compile it. I needed to embed plots in a wx Widget application and I spent literally days, trying to build and link against PLPlot, failing, looking for alternative solutions, then returning to PLPLot, cycling round and round before I finally got it working. Something that I think Windows users aren't used to (even those who know a bit about coding) is the CMake or .configure type stage. When I first tried, to me C++ was C++, surely it should just compile? I obviously didn't know what I was letting myself in for. I have a feeling that the first time I got it working it was without CMake, by hand editing the C/C++ files I imported into VS. This is what probably puts a lot of Windows users off. If it's of interest then wxWidgets can be downloaded in binary form as wxPack. I don't know what it takes to do this and I think it is independant of wxWidgets although I think wxWidgets do now provide windows binaries. wxPack includes the Visual Studio project for the build so is very useful as a starting point if you want to build with some custom options. I think this is a good halfway house. I know I'm starting from a situation where the library will build and I can (and do) go through the wxconfig.h file and change options myself if I want a custom build. One question though. If a binary version is built with gcc, can it be used by Visual Studio or vica-versa? I have in the past built FORTRAN libraries with gcc and linked to them from C++ programs in VS, and I seem to remember having to link against some additional gcc runtime or similar too. Maybe someone else has more recent experience? I don't know what the split is between gcc and VS users on Windows in the PLPlot target audience, but now that there has been a free version of VS for a number of years I imagine it has a large fraction (if not more than half) the user base. If PLPlot wants to increase its windows use then it shouldn't alienate VS users (and I'm one of them) because their compiler is free (like free beer), but not free (like freedom). Phil
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