Bug#602997: Debian Bugs information: logs for Bug#602997
> Message #14 received at 602997@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox):
> From: Matthias Klose <doko@debian.org>
> To: Stephen Kitt <steve@sk2.org>, 602997@bugs.debian.org
> Subject: Re: Bug#602997: ITP: gcc-mingw-w64 -- The GNU Compiler Collection
> for MinGW-w64
> Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:13:58 +0100
>
> On 10.11.2010 08:32, Stephen Kitt wrote:
>> Package: wnpp
>> Severity: wishlist
>> Owner: Stephen Kitt<steve@sk2.org>
>>
>>
>> * Package name : gcc-mingw-w64
>
> we already have a mingw32 toolchain. Is it possible to build a mingw biarch
> toolchain instead of a new package?
>
The current mingw32 toolchain uses "mingw.org" runtime.
Mingw-w64 project provides a different runtime - w64. This runtime
supports win32, win64 and wince. Win32 & Win64 runtimes can be build
as biarch.
Fedora and openSUSE are using the mingw-w64 runtimes for both x86 and
amd64 cross-toolchains to windows.
For more info on mingw-64 project and many users see their homepage:
http://mingw-w64.sourceforge.net/
> the toolchain currently builds for arch `any'. Is this really necessary? Maybe
> it's fine to to prove that this is buildable on arm or mips, but is it really us
> ed?
I personally am only aware of people using it on x86, amd64 on *nix & windows.
>> we already have a mingw32 toolchain. Is it possible to build a mingw
>> biarch toolchain instead of a new package?
>
> MinGW32 and MinGW-w64 are actually two different toolchains, not
> simply bi-arch variants of the same toolchain; they have different
> triplets. (In fact given the way ldscripts are shipped they would
> probably have to conflict with each other.) MinGW-w64 provides both
> 32-bit and 64-bit toolchains, and builds some 32-bit software (such as
> Wine Gecko) which the current mingw32 toolchain can't - that is in
> fact why Ove Kaaven was interested in Robert Millan's gcc-mingw32
> package and associated packages which were actually based on MinGW-w64
> rather than MinGW32, and why I started work on packaging the whole
> toolchain.
>
Agree. The original mingw, is separate from the mingw-w64 project.
Mingw-w64 is better on both x86 and amd64.
> My aim with the mingw-w64 toolchain is two-fold:
>
> * provide a proper MinGW-w64 toolchain, handling the varied
> requirements of the potential users in Debian, notably wine-gecko
> and potentially wine-mono;
> * avoid the confusion which exists regarding mingw32 and gcc-mingw32.
>
I would like to join maintainship with additional goal:
* provide cross-compiled -dev packages, such that debian users can
easily cross-compile their apps to win32 and win64 using mingw-w64
based toolchains.
> I'm currently discussing the situation with Ron, the maintainer of the
> mingw32 toolchain. Our intention is ideally to establish whether one
> of the two toolchains can handle the various requirements, in which
> case only that one would be kept.
>
I haven't been in touch with Ron.
> Note that for now MinGW (the new name for MinGW32) doesn't support
> 64-bit targets; that support is supposed to be forthcoming. A bigger
> problem is that recent releases of MinGW only support Windows-hosted
> compilers, as I understand things at least.
>
>> the toolchain currently builds for arch `any'. Is this really
>> necessary? Maybe it's fine to to prove that this is buildable on
>> arm or mips, but is it really used?
>
> Probably not, i386 and amd64 would be perfectly sufficient.
>
> Thanks for your interest,
>
> Stephen
Dear Stephen, Ron and everyone else.
I have started my own packaging of mingw-w64 based toolchains myself a
while ago.
Packaging is available here:
https://code.launchpad.net/~mingw-w64/mingw-w64/gcc-4.4
Some description:
1) One source package to bootstrap both x86 and amd64 cross-toolchains
using runtimes by mingw-w64 project.
2) Each time build is not using pre-compiled binaries (i.e. there is
no bootstrap package)
3) By default binutils-source and gcc-source are used.
4) Alternatively upstream checkouts can be used.
5) There is a daily build ppa using: binutils trunk, gcc-4.4 branch,
mingw-w64 trunk.
https://code.launchpad.net/~mingw-w64/+recipe/gcc4.4+trunk (I will
start doing 4.5 & 4.6 based builds soon)
6) It is two toolchains, not a bi-arch. I haven't tried building
bi-arch and amd64 doesn't support java, where x86 does. And I use
slightly different options for two of them.
7) It also includes pthread-win32 dll build from source with patches
to make it build amd64 variant as well.
8) The "build" machinery is not the one used in native debian-gcc or
binutils. I do not know if that is desired from debian-toolchain devs.
(I haven't found an easy way to plug in a two step mingw-w64
compilation into debian-gcc build rules)
I will look over current packaging done by Stephen. Hopefully we can
reconcile and work together on them.
What sort of criteria should we have for future mingw toolchains in Debian?
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