Feature Requests item #1348719, was opened at 2005-11-04 23:58 Message generated for change (Comment added) made by kylotan You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=355470&aid=1348719&group_id=5470
Please note that this message will contain a full copy of the comment thread, including the initial issue submission, for this request, not just the latest update. Category: Distutils Group: None Status: Open Resolution: None Priority: 5 Submitted By: David McNab (davidmcnab) Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody) Summary: please support the free visual studio sdk compiler Initial Comment: Hi, I noticed, with some pain, that while pythons 2.1 to 2.3 are built with msvc6, and allow for easy compilation of extensions. However, the official binary distro of python2.4 for windows is built with ms vs .net 2003 (version 7.1). I've tried using the .net framework sdk compiler: (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9B3A2CA6-3647-4070-9F41-A333C6B9181D&displaylang=en) also the Visual C++ Toolkit: (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=272be09d-40bb-49fd-9cb0-4bfa122fa91b&DisplayLang=en) but in both cases, distutils complains that it can't find a suitable compiler ("error: Python was built with version 7.1 of visual studio..."). I did some hacking on distutils/msvccompiler.py, and noticed that this module is searching for certain registry keys that are only written by the non-free Visual Studio .NET 2003 compiler. As it is, this situation imposes on developers a deterrent against upgrading to python 2.4. There are millions of msvc6 installations out there, but for many, the cost of upgrading to msvs .net 2003 is prohibitive. I have considered building python2.4 from source using msvc6 (I notice the project/workspace files are present in the source), but feel this is unwise because I could end up building extension modules that are binary-incompatible with everyone else's python2.4 I (and countless others, I'm sure) would really appreciate it if the python devs could rework things to make it possible to build python2.4 extensions using the free ms compilers mentioned above). Cheers david ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: B Sizer (kylotan) Date: 2005-11-08 10:07 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=206950 I was under the impression that it was possible to build Python extensions using the free MS tools. Several people in comp.lang.python have said as much. The original poster of this bug may wish to check http://www.vrplumber.com/programming/mstoolkit/ for further details. However, if it is now not the case, it is imperative that someone addresses this. There is little point having a free language if it requires a non-free compiler (in either sense of the word) to build the extensions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Martin v. Löwis (loewis) Date: 2005-11-08 08:03 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=21627 I disagree that one of the reasons to use VC 7.1 was that a free Microsoft compiler was available - it was never one of the reasons why I considered switching. Instead, the reasons were: - MS no longer ships VC6, so many users only had VC7.1 and where requesting that this was used, - VC 7.1 solves a few problems, most notably, IPv6 support can be built with that compiler, but not with VC6, and people where requesting IPv6 support on Windows. So I agree that this request should be closed; I personally have no plans to work on it for the next few years. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Josiah Carlson (josiahcarlson) Date: 2005-11-08 06:21 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=341410 I'm not sure this request should be closed. One of the reasons that Python 2.4 compilation was switched to the 7.1 compiler was that it was supposed to be possible to compile Python and extension modules with the free .net compiler. If users cannot compile with the free .net compiler right now, then it seems that there is a bit of a problem. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: David McNab (davidmcnab) Date: 2005-11-08 03:00 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=35522 Thank you for your reply. In desperation, I started downloading an evaluation version of msvs.net 2003 from bittorrent. But before the download was even halfway complete, I had already installed mingw on my winbox and sorted out the intricacies of compiling 3rd party libs, and building working python extensions, using only mingw. As a result, I am now free of the shackles of proprietary MS toolchains, and am comfortable with mingw - especially since most of the multiplatform 3rd party libs I've seen offer good build support for MinGW. All my extensions, and others' extensions I'm using, are now building quite happily with MinGW. >From this perspective, I no longer have interest in being able to build extensions with MS tools - freeware MSVC compilers or otherwise. In fact, depending on a proprietary toolchain to build Free/Opensource software now feels ludicrous. Therefore, I'd be perfectly comfortable if you want to close this support ticket. Cheers David ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Comment By: Martin v. Löwis (loewis) Date: 2005-11-07 23:26 Message: Logged In: YES user_id=21627 I don't understand your remark " and allow for easy compilation of extensions". Don't you need a copy of VC6 for that? I don't understand how this is inherently different from VC.NET 2003... only that Microsoft don't longer offers VC6 for sale. Many people only have VC.NET available, but no copy of VC6. Anyway, would you like to contribute patches to make this work? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=355470&aid=1348719&group_id=5470 _______________________________________________ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
