[Python-Dev] mingw support? (original) (raw)

Sturla Molden sturla at molden.no
Fri Aug 13 21:04:30 CEST 2010

"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

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