AW: [Caml-list] Re: OCaml on Windows

[Gerd Stolpmann <info@gerd-stolpmann.de>]

Am 27.06.2013 15:52:49 schrieb(en) William Smith:
> Hi,
> 
> One major concern with using cygwin to compile ocamlc etc. is that  
> the resulting executables are subject to copy-left since it uses a  
> DLL that is distributed under GPL.

Thanks for the clarification (although I don't think anybody messed  
this up so far). There is in deed a difference between being dependent  
on the Cygwin DLL and on the Cygwin utilities. The first means that you  
get "infected" by the GPL, and there are also other potential technical  
problems from the emulation layer. So most professional developers try  
to avoid that. The other issue - and I think most of the discussion  
refers to that - are dependencies on command-line utilities from Cygwin  
(like bash). This is just a build-time matter.

> To quote from README.win32 in the top folder of the source:
> 
> (*) Cygwin-generated .exe files refer to a DLL that is distributed  
> under
> the GPL.  Thus, these .exe files can only be distributed under a  
> license
> that is compatible with the GPL.  Executables generated by MSVC or by
> MinGW have no such restrictions.
> 
> There's a difference between using cygwin to build the system (in  
> other words, compile everything with gcc)

Not quite exact: MinGW is also gcc-based. The point is whether you  
produce executables linking with the Cygwin DLL or not. (There used to  
be a switch -mno-cygwin for not linking with this DLL, but since quite  
a while there are separate gcc frontends for this purpose.)

> vs. using cygwin to compile the tools (in other words, use a cygwin  
> shell to execute all of the Makefile/Makefile.nt files and msvc or  
> MinGW as the compiler).

Right. The essential point is which C compiler is configured for use  
with ocaml (configure -cc the-cc-to-use).

> I have been building ocaml with the MSVC compiler for quite a while.   
> I use cygwin to run the shell and Makefiles in the build process.   I  
> don't use cygwin compilers or utilities (other than make) in my  
> production code.   I don't have any experience with the MinGW port.
> 
> I haven't done a thorough testing of all of the tools in OCaml-4.00.1  
> but I believe they all work.   [The only problem I have had is that I  
> have to manually block making the library otherlibs/labltk/browser.]
> 
> also, r.3@libertyserf.fr said:
> > Is anyone using omake on windows? Does it have a dependency on  
> Cygwin like ocamlbuild?
> 
> I believe that is false that ocamlbuild depends on cygwin.

ocamlbuild appears to call bash internally, and that's usually a Cygwin  
utility. In that sense, the statement is correct. There is no  
dependency on the Cygwin DLL.

Gerd


> Bill
> 
>> Hi,
> 
>> I am looking to use ocaml to implement a project for my employer.  
>> However, the
>> environment is Windows OS. I am using cygwin and so far it seems to  
>> work but
>> curious on experiences others have on using ocaml on windows - both  
>> as a
>> development and deployment platform. Also has anyone tried using  
>> opam on
>> windows? Does it work?
> 
>> Bikal
> 
> 
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Gerd Stolpmann, Darmstadt, Germany    gerd@gerd-stolpmann.de
Creator of GODI and camlcity.org.
Contact details:        http://www.camlcity.org/contact.html
Company homepage:       http://www.gerd-stolpmann.de
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