> So the problem is on the GPL side as msvcr70.dll is closed source and so
> can't be linked with a GPL program.. If that is a valid argument then
> any compiler that has a support library that is closed source can not be
> used to distribute GPL software. Does Intel's icc for example link
> against a support library? Does that prevent distribution? This is a
> major headache, and I'd hate to see the MSVC build thrown out, though I
> suppose we might go back to a mingw build if we have to...
I had more the impression that the problem is not that you can't link
against MSVC support libs, but that you can't distribute the support libs
along with a binary package. However, the readme for the gettext package
allows distribution of a binary package without the support libs (although
this is just a readme, I don't know it it's a valid statement).