Win32 devlibs update and Windows XP support
Hi all,
Work on a new win32 devlibs branch is currently in progress (see https://code.launchpad.net/~jazzynico/inkscape-devlibs/trunk). It's goal is to replace our old devlibs with the most recent ones, compiled with TDM-GCC-5.1. It's almost done, but there are some issues that will affect our win32 devlibs in a near future:
* Harfbuzz can't compile on Windows XP (but runs fine). Vista or 7 can be used instead (I'm going to test with a virtualboxed 7). Of course, Harfbuzz is required by lots of other libs (pango, rsvg, imagemagick, gtk...). * Glib doesn't compile on Windows XP and 7, due to recent changes in Glib-2.43. So we're stuck with 2.42.2. Side effect, we can't compile the latest glibmm and atkmm libs (and maybe others, I haven't try Gtk and Gtkmm yet...).
I don't know if it's directly related, but there's an old thread in the gnome mailing list that question Windows XP support (see https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2014-December/msg00055.html). Note that Gnome no longer provides binaries for XP on their download page (http://www.gtk.org/download/windows.php).
So be aware that maintaining Windows XP (and even win32) versions is going to be harder and harder...
I'm going work on the branch until it's done (or blocked), but I'm seriously considering switching to my old cross-compiled branch, which was far easier to maintain.
Regards, -- Nicolas
Hi Nicolas,
Sound great. Regarding Windows XP, I was under the impression that it is now EOL and no longer supported by Microsoft. As such, I guess users can't have any expectation for us to continue supporting it.
I'm fairly sure that the Gnome libs use odd-numbered versions for their unstable releases. As such, Glib 2.42.x is probably the best choice for devlibs, right?
AV On 25 Jan 2016 10:45 a.m., "Nicolas Dufour" <nicoduf@...48...> wrote:
Hi all,
Work on a new win32 devlibs branch is currently in progress (see https://code.launchpad.net/~jazzynico/inkscape-devlibs/trunk). It's goal is to replace our old devlibs with the most recent ones, compiled with TDM-GCC-5.1. It's almost done, but there are some issues that will affect our win32 devlibs in a near future:
- Harfbuzz can't compile on Windows XP (but runs fine). Vista or 7 can be
used instead (I'm going to test with a virtualboxed 7). Of course, Harfbuzz is required by lots of other libs (pango, rsvg, imagemagick, gtk...).
- Glib doesn't compile on Windows XP and 7, due to recent changes in
Glib-2.43. So we're stuck with 2.42.2. Side effect, we can't compile the latest glibmm and atkmm libs (and maybe others, I haven't try Gtk and Gtkmm yet...).
I don't know if it's directly related, but there's an old thread in the gnome mailing list that question Windows XP support (see https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2014-December/msg00055.html). Note that Gnome no longer provides binaries for XP on their download page ( http://www.gtk.org/download/windows.php).
So be aware that maintaining Windows XP (and even win32) versions is going to be harder and harder...
I'm going work on the branch until it's done (or blocked), but I'm seriously considering switching to my old cross-compiled branch, which was far easier to maintain.
Regards,
Nicolas
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Alex Valavanis <valavanisalex@...400...> wrote:
Sound great. Regarding Windows XP, I was under the impression that it is now EOL and no longer supported by Microsoft. As such, I guess users can't have any expectation for us to continue supporting it.
Yes. But some users (me included) still use it at work (under duress...).
I'm fairly sure that the Gnome libs use odd-numbered versions for their unstable releases. As such, Glib 2.42.x is probably the best choice for devlibs, right?
Glib 2.46 is the latest stable release. But compared to the 2.28.8 we still use in the current devlibs, 2.42.x is not so bad ;)
Regards, -- Nicolas
The new devlibs-5.1 are almost ready. I'm still fighting with ImageMagick and Aspell, as they don't compile correctly (or when they do, they crash when used in Inkscape) with pthreadGC2. I'm going to test with winpthread soon.
An experimental binary, without IM and Aspell, is available for tests: ftp://download.tuxfamily.org/inkscape/inkscape-14630-devlibs-51.7z
I also need some help with application performance analysis on Windows XP. Inkscape takes too long to launch with the new devlibs (about 45 seconds, compared to 6-7 seconds with the current devlibs), and strace on msys isn't very helpful. Could it be due to the configure options I used when building the libs? Any suggestion on a fix or an analysis tool is welcome!
Regards, -- Nicolas
participants (2)
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Alex Valavanis -
Nicolas Dufour