Re: writing integer with fwrite

[Andy Adler]

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004, John W. Eaton wrote:

> I think a good solution for this problem is to create Cygwin packages
> for these various components and Octave.  Then installing Octave on
> Windows would be as simple as running the Cygwin setup program,
> downloading the components you need, and letting the installer do the
> rest.  The packages for the individual parts like ATLAS, FFTW,
> etc. could be updated independently of Octave, so it might be easier
> to maintain and split the work than a single package that tries to
> include everything in one bundle.  Making Cygwin packages is not hard
> and can be completely scripted so eventually building a new package
> should not be much more difficult than transferring some files and
> running a script.  Even so, I do not have the time or interest to do
> this myself.  However, if someone else is interested and would like to
> help by providing Cygwin packages for Octave, I think I have some
> scripts for building the Octave package that could serve as a starting
> point.

I agree that this is a good idea. However, IMHO, cygwin packaging
has stalled because of:

- The compiler problem. gcc-3.3 produces slow code, and gcc-3.2
  is hard to get, and doesn't compile octave properly any more

- The code bloat problem. A static compiled octave is _much_
  smaller and _much_ more responsive than a dynamically compiled
  octave. OTOH, dynamic octave allows more flexibility, which
  pluggable ATLAS, FFTW etc.

  This problem is so bad that I find that I'm still mostly
  using the static compiled 2.1.42 version that I made 2 years ago.

- The windows custom/cygwin problem. We would like to have a
  version for cygwin, and also one that has a custom NSIS based
  installer.

So the basic problem here is combinatorics. We can't produce
the 'one definitive octave for windows'. But we can't produce
16 versions and try to help people figure out which one to
use.

So, basically I'm explaining why I haven't produced an
octave-for-windows package for so long.

--
Andy Adler <adler AT site.uOttawa.ca> 1(613)562-5800x6218




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