RE: [avr-gcc-list] Installing WinAVR 20070122 broke older 3.4.5install?

[Eric Weddington]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: 
> address@hidden 
> [mailto:address@hidden
> org] On Behalf Of Joerg Wunsch
> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 4:54 PM
> To: address@hidden
> Subject: Re: [avr-gcc-list] Installing WinAVR 20070122 broke 
> older 3.4.5install?
> 
> "Bruce D. Lightner" <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> > Your last comment about using "environment variables" confuses me.
> > I must be missing something, because I don't understand why "WinAVR"
> > would conflict with "WinARM", unless you are thinking about a
> > *globally* defined environment variable that needs to be shared by
> > *both* cross-compilers, such as "GCC_ROOT" (see below).
> 
> I think a global environment variable would be Eric's only alternative
> to a registry key, when considering what the WinAVR installer could do
> at installation time.

And my concern with using a global environment variable is that it assumes
that only a single toolchain is installed on the system. I want to be able
to install multiple versions of the same toolchain, or multiple (different)
toolchains on a single system.

 
> It's a bit counterintuitive that GCC prefers the Windows registry key
> over an environment variable.  In Unix, environment variables have
> usually been used to override defaults, but that would no longer be
> possible once the registry key in place.  If you don't like that,
> please file a bug report with the GCC (and binutils) folks.  I don't
> know what's the reasoning for this.

It's only counterintuitive because your used to Unix. On Unix, environment
variables are the norm. In the old DOS days they were the norm on DOS. In
moving to Windows, and especially now, like it or not, MS moved to this
"registry" idea as a way to centrally locate all these .ini files they used
to have. There are still enviornment variables on Windows, it's just they're
so far buried down it's hard to get to. MS "encapsulated" the environment
variables in the registry. Note that it doesn't mean that I like the system.


> The only simple solution I could think of Eric might implement is to
> ask the user/administrator at installation time, whether the registry
> keys should be brought into place, or whether the user would rather
> like to handle that on their own, using environment variables.
> 
> I agree though, system-wide environment variables are completely
> unsuited as the name of the variable being looked up is always one of
> GCC_ROOT, BINUTILS_ROOT, etc -- independent of whether this is a
> cross-compiler or not.

Right. 

At least with the registry there can be keys that are specific
distro+version. Up until now I haven't put the version on there.

Eric