[Python-Dev] mingw support?

[Greg Ewing]

Nick Coghlan wrote:

> This used to be more of an issue because MS didn't provide a decent
> free compiler for their platform. These days (since the release of
> Visual Studio Express), we expect that people willing to use (or
> support) a closed OS can cope with also using the free-as-in-beer
> closed compiler provided by the vendor of that OS.

The problem with the MS "free" compilers is that it's only a
*temporary* freedom. They have a habit of withdrawing older
versions when newer ones become available. Together with their
other obnoxious habit of changing the C runtime in incompatible
ways with every release, the result is that extensions for
versions of Python older than N years can no longer be compiled
with any legally-available free MS compiler.

If you're talking about pragmatism, I think this situation
causes very pragmatic difficulties.

-- 
Greg