From: Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com   
      
   Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> writes:   
   > On 2025-10-27, Keith Thompson  wrote:   
   >> bart  writes:   
   >> [...]   
   >>> Yes, but: the development and build procedures HAVE BEEN BUILT AROUND UNIX.   
   >>>   
   >>> So they are utterly dependent on them. So much so that it is pretty   
   >>> much impossible to build this stuff on any non-UNIX environment,   
   >>> unless that environment is emulated. That is what happens with WSL,   
   >>> MSYS2, CYGWIN.   
   >> [...]   
   >>   
   >> **Yes, you're right**.   
   >>   
   >> The GNU autotools typically work smoothly when used on Unix-like   
   >> systems.  They can be made to work nearly as smoothly under Windows   
   >> by using an emulation layer such as WSL, MSYS2, or Cygwin.  It's very   
   >> difficult to use them on pure Windows.   
   >   
   > The way I see the status quo in this matter is this: cross-platform   
   > programs originating or mainly focusing on Unix-likes require effort   
   > /from their actual authors/ to have a native Windows port.   
   >   
   > Whereas when such programs are ported to Unix-like which their   
   > authors do not use, it is often possible for the users to get it   
   > working without needing help from the authors. There may be some   
   > patch to upstream, and that's about it.   
   >   
   > Also, a proper Windows port isn't just a way to build on Windows.   
   > Nobody does that. Windows doens't have tools out of the box.   
   >   
   > When you seriously commit to a Windows port, you provide a binary build   
   > with a proper installer.   
      
   I agree that that's the status quo.   
      
   I can imagine either an enhanced version of the GNU autotools,   
   or a new set of tools similar to it, that could support building   
   software from source on Windows.  It wouldn't work on Windows out   
   of the box, which doesn't provide much in the way of development   
   tools, but it could detect the presence of Visual Studio and/or   
   other development systems and use them automatically.   
      
   Ideally it would be a drop-in replacement for the GNU autotools,   
   so that someone could take, say, a copy of cdecl-18.5.tar.gz,   
   feed it to the tool, and it would build and install cdecl.exe in   
   the right place without depending on a Unix-like emulation layer.   
   It would probably have to work with the configure.ac file (which   
   is fed to autoconf) rather than with the generated configure script   
   (which requires a Bourne-like shell).   
      
   I don't know the details of how this could be done, and I certainly   
   don't have the motivation to implement it unless someone pays   
   me a lot of money to do so.  And if nobody does this, I won't be   
   particularly inconvenienced.  It's entirely possible that there   
   isn't enough demand to justify the effort.   
      
   --   
   Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com   
   void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)