[Python-Dev] mingw support?

[Sturla Molden]

"Cesare Di Mauro":

> I like to use Windows because it's a comfortable and productive
> environment,
> certainly not because someone forced me to use it.
>
> Also, I have limited time, so I want to spend it the better I can,
> focusing
> on solving real problems. Setup, Next, Next, Finish, and I want it working
> without thinking about anything else.
[...]
> Give users a better choice, and I don't see logical reasons because
> they'll
> not change their mind.


I use Windows too, even though I am a scientist and most people seem to
prefer Linux for scientific computing. I do like to just click on the
installer from Enthought and forget about building all the binaries an
libraries myself. Maybe I am just lazy...

But likewise, I think that most Windows users don't care which C compiler
was used to build Python. Nor do we/they care which compiler was used to
build any other third-party software, as long as the MSI installers works
and the binaries are void of malware.

Also note that there are non-standard things on Windows that mingw does
not support properly, such as COM and structured exceptions. Extensions
like pywin32 depend on Microsoft C/C++ for that reason.

So for Windows I think it is sufficient to support mingw for extension
libraries. The annoying part is the CRT DLL hell, which is the fault of
Microsoft. An easy fix would be a Python/mingw bundle, or a correctly
configured mingw compiler from python.org. Or Python devs could consider
not using Microsoft's CRT at all on Windows, and replacing it with a
custom CRT or plain Windows API calls.

Sturla