Re: What is the best source of GNAT for Win32?

[Martin Krischik <martin@krischik.com>]

Steve wrote:

> 
> "Martin Krischik" <martin@krischik.com> wrote in message
> news:1207241.Jl0oUfnWbg@linux1.krischik.com...
>> Steve wrote:
>>
>>> I have been using the distributions:
>>>
>>>   gnat-3.15p-nt.exe
>>>   gnatwin-3.15p-nt.exe
>>>
>>> Which I downloaded from cs.nyu.edu when they were new.
>>>
>>> I see that gcc-ada-3.4.2-20040916-1.tar.gz is available from mingw.org.
>>>
>>> Questions:
>>>   Should I consider using this new version?
>>
>> Depends: It is quite a good alternative for those who know how tar works
>> and
>> are not affrait of complex installs.
>>
>>>   Is this the only thing I need to install, or do I need
>>> gcc-core-3.4.2-20040915-1.tar.gz as well?
>>
>> You need a lot more:
>>
>> http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Programming:Ada:Installing#MinGW
>>
> I would be VERY suprised if I really need:
>     gcc-g++-3.4.2-20040916-1.tar.gz
>     gcc-g77-3.4.2-20040916-1.tar.tz
>     gcc-java-3.4.2-20040916-1.tar.tz
>     gcc-objc-3.4.2-20040916-1.tar.tz
>     msys-1.0.10.exe
>     msysDTK-1.0.1.exe
>     msys-automake-1.8.2.tar.bz2
>     msys-autoconf-2.59.tar.bz2
>     msys-libtool-1.5.tar.bz2
> 
> I think you only need msys if you want to build gcc from sources (which I
> don't).

Or PolyORB. Or an a Ada enabled gdb. Anything which need ./configure. The
problem with using MinGW is not the Ada compiler itself - you are right,
you can get away with a lot less if you only want Ada. The real problem is
the rest of the toolchain - especialy with windows. iE. I never got GPS to
compile with windows - Reason: there is no complete list of packages to
install to get GtkAda to work with Windows.

From that experience I think a maximalistic appraoch is more honest to the
user then a minimalistic.

But it's wiki - If you have a better advice to the user feel free to
contribute.

Martin
-- 
mailto://krischik@users.sourceforge.net
http://www.ada.krischik.com