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Cygwin, tcl/tk, and "native" [Was: Re: Interest in "native" Tcl/Tk/Expect/Itcl/...packages?]
In the interests of clarity, let's agree on some terminology:
a "cygwin" version --
uses the cygwin1.dll for runtime services (like printf etc)
a "native windows" version
uses msvcrt.dll for runtime services
an "X" version
uses xlib calls to draw stuff on a display
this requires a xserver of some kind
And here's the tricky one:
a "GDI" version
uses the Windows Graphics Device Interface calls to draw
stuff on a display -- WITHOUT using an Xlib emulator.
no Xserver needed.
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Using these terms, what we already have is
cygwin, GDI
ActiveState provides a
native, GDI
What is being proposed is
cygwin, X
Contrary to Jean-Sebastien Trottier's assertion, replacing the current
"cygwin, GDI" implementation with the "native, GDI" ActiveState version
will NOT satisfy the current requirements of insight/gdb and other
existing cygwin packages.
Somehow, a way must be found to have both a "cygwin, GDI" version of
tcl/tk/etc and a "cygwin, X" version -- where both can coexist on the
same machine seamlessly, making it easy to use for the end user and
develop against for the developer.
This is a hard problem, since it requires proper installation and
handling of DLLs, import libs, configure scripts (/usr/lib/tclConfig.sh
and /usr/lib/tkConfig.sh), and include files. I am overjoyed to see
someone interested in tackling the issue.
--
Chuck