Will Qt SDK 1.1 final have better MinGW configuration?
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Hello,
The Qt SDK 1.1 RC ships with a MinGW environment that is a bit outdated and/or still needs tweaking. (For instance, there is no "make" command. Only "mingw32-make").
For windows developer that are new to Qt and it's "*nix-inspired" build processes, this is a significant hurdle/annoyance.
The Qt/MinGW environment that the SDK installs should just work and parallel as much as possible the existing body of Qt tutorials that assume a normal *nix style build tool chain.
Is there an existing Jira issue to track this?
Thank you
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The newer MinGW versions still use mingw32-make.exe name, but anyway this is just an matter of user preference - the Windows guys might want the name nmake - so which name should MinGW use? I guess they will still use mingw32-make.exe.
Anyway most of the "stuff" is done by using Creator so you are saved from using the cmd.
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[quote author="nonot1" date="1304447762"]
The Qt SDK 1.1 RC ships with a MinGW environment that is a bit outdated and/or still needs tweaking. (For instance, there is no "make" command. Only "mingw32-make").
[/quote]This is quote from "MinGW FAQ":http://www.mingw.org/wiki/FAQ
What's the difference between make and mingw32-make?
The "native" (i.e.: MSVCRT dependent) port of make is lacking in some functionality and has modified functionality due to the lack of POSIX on Win32.As you can see the issue with make is not specific just of Qt SDK 1.1 RC.
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2 Questions/Comments:
- Why does the Qt SDK RC not use the latest MinGW? Some problem with it?
- The "Qt/MinGW build environment" is specific to the Qt SDK, and need not be a pure MinGW install. the *unix-normative command "make" should just be aliased to whatever tool can actually do the job, because that's the command that any Qt tutorial you find will tell you to use.
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We want creator to work with any installed mingw, so custom scripts or renaming files in the mingw shipped with the SDK is not the way to go. That would just break any mingw setup our users had installed themselves.
As for the mingw version shipped with Qt Creator by default: That is one that is well tested with creator and does the job. Feel free to install other mingw based tool chains right from the mingw web site if you need something different.
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Note that if the Trolls try to unify the tools usage in all platforms it will confuse others that are familiar with that platform and as Tobias said it will break the compatibility with different versions of the same tool.
And you can use Qt with another C++ compiler if you don't like MinGW, but is not Qt's business to solve all the tools (or the way we use the tools) differences between platforms, -see a reversed example "here":http://www.qtcentre.org/threads/41254-Problems-executing-system (should he vote for all the Linuxes to implement a system command? Or should he adapt to the current situation? i vote for adapt and find a Qt way or a current system way)-
LE: my example was bad... Linuxes have their own system
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bq. We want creator to work with any installed mingw, so custom scripts or renaming files in the mingw shipped with the SDK is not the way to go. That would just break any mingw setup our users had installed themselves.
bq. Note that if the Trolls try to unify the tools usage in all platforms it will confuse others that are familiar with that platform and as Tobias said it will break the compatibility with different versions of the same tool.
Yeah... I agree, it's a fine line to tread.
I was coming from the perspective of someone new to Qt from the MSVC world.... and would not have had any pre-existing MinGW installation.
Thus, I would view the bundled MinGW environment as a "Qt-specific" build environment, and any minor changes vs. plain-vanilla MinGW would be acceptable as long as they are clearly documented.
But I see the downsides to shipping something called "MinGW" that's not totally standard, as well.
In any case, are there plans to sync to the latest version of MinGW for the final SDK release?
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you can vote here http://bugreports.qt.nokia.com/browse/QTSDK-572
