From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "Lennart Borgman" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Some findings and suggestion about Emacs on w32 Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 00:24:35 +0200 Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Message-ID: <008d01c4b886$32d07ff0$0200a8c0@sedrcw11488> NNTP-Posting-Host: deer.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1098484077 20440 80.91.229.6 (22 Oct 2004 22:27:57 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 22:27:57 +0000 (UTC) Cc: guy@wyrdrune.com Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sat Oct 23 00:27:47 2004 Return-path: Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([199.232.76.165]) by deer.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 1CL7sx-0003EP-00 for ; Sat, 23 Oct 2004 00:27:47 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.33) id 1CL80T-0001Vy-BB for ged-emacs-devel@m.gmane.org; Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:35:33 -0400 Original-Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.33) id 1CL7zi-00016B-OE for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:34:46 -0400 Original-Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.33) id 1CL7zh-000150-IY for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:34:45 -0400 Original-Received: from [199.232.76.173] (helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.33) id 1CL7zh-00014a-9a for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:34:45 -0400 Original-Received: from [81.228.10.107] (helo=av9-2-sn4.m-sp.skanova.net) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1CL7rJ-0005oY-Ep for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Fri, 22 Oct 2004 18:26:05 -0400 Original-Received: by av9-2-sn4.m-sp.skanova.net (Postfix, from userid 502) id 9DAFB38105; Sat, 23 Oct 2004 00:26:04 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from smtp2-2-sn4.m-sp.skanova.net (smtp2-2-sn4.m-sp.skanova.net [81.228.10.182]) by av9-2-sn4.m-sp.skanova.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8AFB337E4B; Sat, 23 Oct 2004 00:26:04 +0200 (CEST) Original-Received: from sedrcw11488 (t2o58p22.telia.com [62.20.165.22]) by smtp2-2-sn4.m-sp.skanova.net (Postfix) with SMTP id 7F77437E4C; Sat, 23 Oct 2004 00:26:02 +0200 (CEST) Original-To: "Emacs Devel" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1409 X-MIMEOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1409 X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+ged-emacs-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:28752 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel:28752 After compiling Emacs CVS with MinGW+MSYS on ms windows I have some simple suggestions. Please tell me if I am misunderstanding something here! 1) I suggest that MinGW+MSYS is mentioned in the doc as the primary environment for building Emacs on w32. It works well if some small problems are removed (see below). 2) Addpm.exe currently has a switch /q that does not work under MSYS since this is believed to be a path there. Replace this with -q (or add it as an alternative). This must be changed in nt/makefile.w32-in too. 3) Addpm.exe should perhaps only add emacs_dir to the registry? Are the other values really used? 4) Addpm.exe besides changing the registry adds an shortcut to the Start menu in GNU Emacs/Emacs that points to runemacs.exe. This is perhaps not very good? Adding this entry could make a user believe that this is how Emacs should be used. (I believed that for a long time and therefore did not use Emacs. I wanted to, but it did not gave me the functionality I needed invoked this way! I needed gnuserv.) I suggest that addpm.exe should not add this entry. 5) Emacs without gnuserv is in my opinion very crippled on w32. Gnuserv should in my opinion be part of Emacs distribution for ms windows. I suggest the version from http://www.wyrdrune.com/. I suggest that CVS should include this gnuserv. 6) The docs should be clearly telling that gnuserv should be used on ms windows. 7) MSYS should include a newer version of Texinfo. (This is of course not something Emacs Devel should fix, I tell this jus to inform you.) As far as I could see Emacs Info could not be built with makeinfo 4.3 which is what currently is in MSYS. I have in another mail suggested that version 4.6 from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/ should be included in MSYS. 8) The procedure for building on w32 (NT) is not currently merged with the normal build procedures in all places as far as I can see. I suggest that they should be in the long run, but realises that this takes some time. In the mean time I suggest changing the docs so that a user on w32 can immediately be redirected to the relevant docs. Just put a note at the top the docs! (Several persons have told me that they found it very difficult to build Emacs on ms windows. It is not, but it is confusing to read the docs.) - Lennart