Re: Some comments on the MSYS-based build

["Óscar Fuentes" <ofv@wanadoo.es>]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> > I removed the "GUI" part.
>> 
>> IMO mingw-get-inst is far more convenient than mingw-get for easily
>> installing the required MinGW pieces. It takes less than one minute
>> of human work. I'll try to submit a patch to INSTALL.MSYS explaining
>> where to get and how to use mingw-get-inst for building Emacs.
>
> MinGW people say that mingw-get-inst is only for installing
> mingw-get.  I don't think we should invent our own MinGW procedures,
> even if they seem to work.

That is a misunderstanding that results from the poor wording on the
mingw-get-inst description. mingw-get-inst *uses* mingw-get (which is
automatically downloaded) for installing MinGW (+MSYS). In other words,
is a simplistic front-end for mingw-get.

Below is the patch that explains how to use mingw-get-inst plus some
corrections to the mingw-get part. Feel free to modify it as necessary.

diff --git a/nt/INSTALL.MSYS b/nt/INSTALL.MSYS
index c27e7e2..c1ddc45 100644
--- a/nt/INSTALL.MSYS
+++ b/nt/INSTALL.MSYS
@@ -90,6 +90,22 @@ Windows 9X as well).
   manual installation.  The next two sections describe each one of
   these.
 
+** Installing MinGW and MSYS using mingw-get-inst
+
+  mingw-get-inst is a traditional Windows installer which is the
+  easier method for obtaining the required components for building
+  Emacs. You can download it from here:
+
+    http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/Installer/mingw-get-inst/
+
+  (use the most recent version.) Once executed, it will go through the
+  usual steps of license agreement, choosing installation directory
+  (make sure you have write access for it), etc. It will also allow
+  you to download the latest package repository catalogues: this is
+  usually a good idea but not required. The important step is the
+  Select Components one. By default, only the C compiler is checked.
+  You must check "MinGW Developer Toolkit" too.
+
 ** Installing MinGW and MSYS using mingw-get
 
   A nice installer, called mingw-get, is available for those who don't
@@ -106,9 +122,8 @@ Windows 9X as well).
   its wizard.
 
   After that, use "mingw-get install PACKAGE" to install the following
-  additional packages:
+  additional package:
 
-   . msys-base
    . mingw-developer-toolkit
 
   (We recommend that you refrain from installing the MSYS Texinfo
@@ -118,11 +133,6 @@ Windows 9X as well).
   MSYS Texinfo, after installing it as part of msys-base, invoke the
   command "mingw-get remove msys-texinfo".)
 
-  As the above packages don't include automake, you will need to
-  install it, e.g. from here:
-
-    http://sourceforge.net/projects/ezwinports/files/automake-1.11.6-msys-bin.zip/download
-
   At this point, you should be ready to configure and build Emacs in
   its basic configuration.  Skip to the "Generating the configure
   script" section for the build instructions.  If you want to build it