gEDA-dev: Cygwin installation packages

[Cesar Strauss]

J. Childs wrote:
> Cesar,
> 
> Thanks for the link, I had done basically the same thing, but a little 
> more ambitious.  I've got all of the following programs working and have 
> generated a setup.ini to allow installation using cygwin's setup.exe 
> installer.
> 

This is great. If you wish, feel free to update the installation page I created
(it is a wiki, after all). I am looking forward to test your packages.

> 
> I had a tough time deciding whether to use the shared DLL route or the 
> static linking.  The first release I was going to provide was a small 
> rewrite of libgeda to support a shared DLL version (COLORS and 
> do_logging imports to name a few). This worked once I got all of the 
> export symbols in line, but I stumbled across the web page you mention 
> above after I sent my first email to this list, and I figured it would 
> be easier to maintain the package if I went back and did the static 
> route.  This way I don't have to rewrite parts of libgeda to get it to 
> work on cygwin.
> 

Yes, I can confirm this. Full of undefined references. I admit I did not even
noticed the shared library wasn't being built by default, before you wrote.

For the GNU/Linux audience: Windows DLLs must have all dependencies resolved
already at build time, unlike shared libraries on GNU/Linux. It appears libgeda
relies on this to implement a kind of callback mechanism, by linking back to the
main executable. It's the classic "chicken-and-egg" problem. Jason, could you
correct me, if I am wrong?

For the record, I still think it would be worth it if you could submit your fix
for the developers to review. In that way, future gEDA releases could become
even more portable. Only a sugestion, tough.

Thanks,
Cesar


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