Porting and distributing to different platforms

[Michael Hopkins]

Hi all

First post to the GNUstep lists.

I am developing some mathematical code on OS X using just the Foundation
classes (and none of the Apple extensions like ObjC++ and exceptions). This
code is run from the command line with no GUI, so all I will need from
GNUstep is the 'base' functionality for things like NSArray, NSString etc.

I am interested in how feasible it is to port and distribute these command
line applications to other platforms using gcc (and mingw32) - these being:

 - Windows (NT/2000/XP)

 - Linux (32 bit for the forseeable future)

 - FreeBSD amd64 (where I am having problems building GNUstep base)

I am sure all these platforms are supported by GNUstep but what I want to
know is:

1) Do I have to distribute any runtime or shared libraries with the
executables (and if so, what) or will they be completely self-contained?
Does it matter whether I link the executables with the -static flag?

2) How many problems will I hit when doing this - not theoretically but
actually!  ;o)  I know everyone here is likely to be an enthusiast (as I am)
but I do need to know the facts on where I could hit bugs and/or performance
problems and how serious they will be.

My porting development machine is FreeBSD amd64 with a gcc toolset for
native code, another gcc toolset inside the Linux compatibility layer and
the mingw32 toolset.  These all work fine for both C source code and linking
to their respective libraries (whether built locally or collected from
elsewhere).

TIA - please cc replies to me if possible.

Michael


_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

        _/    _/   _/_/_/             Hopkins Research Ltd
       _/    _/   _/    _/
      _/_/_/_/   _/_/_/          http://www.hopkins-research.com/
     _/    _/   _/   _/
    _/    _/   _/     _/               'touch the future'
                   
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/