[Development] Choosing a new MinGW for Qt 5

kai.koehne at nokia.com kai.koehne at nokia.com
Thu Aug 30 17:09:28 CEST 2012


Sorry people, my email got  a bit convoluted. This happens when you add stuff over time ... The gist is:

You can't get MinGW gcc 4.5 bit 32 bit easily anymore. We could upgrade the reference platform to gcc 4.7 32 bit. Can we do this even after the beta?  If so, can we also add a mingw 64 bit (e.g. from mingw-builds), be it as a reference or tier 1 platform?

Regards

Kai

> -----Original Message-----
> From: development-bounces+kai.koehne=nokia.com at qt-project.org
> [mailto:development-bounces+kai.koehne=nokia.com at qt-project.org] On
> Behalf Of Koehne Kai (Nokia-MP/Berlin)
> Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2012 4:57 PM
> To: Storm-Olsen Marius (Nokia-MP/Austin); pgquiles at elpauer.org
> Cc: development at qt-project.org
> Subject: [Development] Choosing a new MinGW for Qt 5
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I'd like to get this on the table again: What is the MinGW package that we want
> to support officially? The matrix for Qt 5.0 right now says MinGW gcc 4.5 32
> bit [1]. Note that when you're installing latest mingw from mingw.org it's
> already installing gcc 4.7, and I guess you'd need to dig into the archive to get
> gcc 4.5 ... But anyway, it's still 32 bit only.
> 
> In the last days I gave the following packages that also support both 32 bit and
> 64 bit a try:
> 
> TDM-GCC: Nice installer, but somewhat stale (gcc 4.6.1 / gdb 7.3.1) + not
> much (visible) activity
> Mingw-64: last official 1.0 build is from a year ago (gcc 4.5.4). There are
> popular, 'semi-official' personal builds with 4.7.1 though ...
> Mingw-builds: gcc-4.7.1, gdb 7.4.1.  packages for gcc-7.4.2 are already in the
> prerelease directory ...
> 
> One might think that the only difference in these packages is the gcc version,
> but this isn't the truth. They also deviate e.g. in the COM headers, which can
> easily lead to build breakages ... That's why I think it's important to promote
> _one_ mingw 64 bit package as the officially supported one, and ideally even
> get it CI tested.
> 
> After trying all, I agree with Marius that mingw-builds seems a good choice. Qt
> 5 beta compiled out of the box for me with one minor patch [3] ...
> 
> So, I think we have a couple of choices here:
> 
>  * We could just add mingw-builds gcc 4.7.1 64 bit to the list of tier 1
> configurations, keeping mingw gcc 4.5 32 bit as reference platform.
>     + no changes after beta for reference platforms
>     - two different compilers are more work to test
>  * We could try to make both mingw-builds gcc 4.7.1 64 bit and 32 bit a tier
> one platform, and get rid of the Mingw from http://www.mingw.org/
>     + The same toolchain can be tested for 32 bit and 64 bit
>     - 5.0 beta is already out
>     - gcc from mingw.org is probably more wide spread/better tested than
> mingw-builds
> * We could leave it as it is, with no recent mingw compiler to easily install, and
> no 64 bit one
> 
> Opinions? Note that at the moment we don't test MinGW at all in the CI system
> [2].
> 
> Regards
> 
> Kai
> 
> [1]: Official platform matrix: http://qt-
> project.org/wiki/Qt_5.0#ed49a36c4fd547e5e2ace11bef4f21cf
> [2]: CI system needs to build with MinGW on Windows: https://bugreports.qt-
> project.org/browse/QTQAINFRA-549
> [3]: Codecs: Fix compilation on MinGW if configure detects iconv:
> https://codereview.qt-project.org/#change,33936
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: development-bounces+kai.koehne=nokia.com at qt-project.org
> > [mailto:development-bounces+kai.koehne=nokia.com at qt-project.org] On
> > Behalf Of Storm-Olsen Marius (Nokia-MP/Austin)
> > Sent: Friday, April 20, 2012 1:54 PM
> > To: pgquiles at elpauer.org
> > Cc: development at qt-project.org
> > Subject: Re: [Development] Choosing a new MinGW for Qt/Qt Creator/Qt
> > SDK
> >
> > Now wait a minute, I never said such a thing.
> >
> > I said that the MinGW-w64 binaries are Cygwin-based now. Meaning, the
> > MinGW they release needs Cygwin DLLs to run.
> >
> > The output they generate is still native Win32 binaries, which does
> > _not_ require Cygwin. (Anything else would be silly, since you could
> > then just use the normal Cygwin-provided gcc, and not MinGW.)
> >
> > Now, I do see that the latest "official release" actually comes from
> > the
> > personal(!) build directory of a Ray Linn, and does not require Cygwin.
> > (I only noticed it when looking at the files page, and it says
> > "Looking for the latest version? Download
> > mingw-w64-gcc-4.6.3-runtime-2.0.1-static-ada-
> > 20120321.7z (28.2 MB)", which happens to point to
> > http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw-
> > w64/files/Toolchains%20targetting%20Win64/Personal%20Builds/ray_linn/)
> >
> > But personally I much better like the structure, consistency, and
> > variety of the mingwbuilds project. You have to admit looking at
> > http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingwbuilds/files/windows-host/ it
> > feels much cleaner and professional. The MinGW-w64 project _feels_ as
> > if it doesn't have a clear mission. (I'm not saying they don't have
> > one.)
> >
> > --
> > .marius
> >
> > On 20/04/2012 06:09, ext Pau Garcia i Quiles wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I'd say you are confusing "mingw-w64 is available in Cygwin" (like
> > > mingw.org is) with "mingw-w64-produced binaries need Cygwin DLLs".
> > >
> > > I've been using mingw-w64 for zsync on Windows (
> > > https://www.assembla.com/spaces/zsync-windows ) for quite some time
> > > and the zsync.exe and zysncmake.exe binaries work without Cygwin DLLs.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 12:46 PM,<marius.storm-olsen at nokia.com>
> wrote:
> > >> Take another look. They haven't produced pure MinGW binary releases
> > >> since the end of 2011. The front page says "The mingw-w64 toolchain
> > >> has been officially added to Cygwin mirrors", and when you look
> > >> under the "Releases" (and then under "Automated Builds") section to
> > >> the left on the front page, you will see that only Cygwin-based
> > >> binaries (and linux-based cross-compilers) are now being produced.
> > >> And yes, if you run 'depends' on those binaries, they do require the
> Cygwin DLLs.
> > >>
> > >> I'm sure you can download the sources and built it yourself without
> > >> the need to be Cygwin-based, but Daniel didn't want to do that, he
> > >> wanted binaries he could just include.
> > >>
> > >> The MinGWbuilds project produces much cleaner downloads, and also a
> > nice
> > >> set of GCC versions you can choose from. And yes, the MinGWbuilds
> > >> ones are also dual target (x86/x64), just provide the -m32/-m64
> > >> flags as normal. The binaries for x86 and x64 are just describing
> > >> the host, and what they target by default. (More details on that on the
> previous site:
> > >> http://code.google.com/p/mingw-builds/)
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> .marius
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> On 19/04/2012 22:16, ext 1+1=2 wrote:
> > >>> No, MinGW-w64 doesn't depend on Cygwin.
> > >>>
> > >>>
> >
> http://openfoamwiki.net/index.php/Tip_Cross_Compiling_OpenFOAM_in_Lin
> >
> ux_For_Windows_with_MinGW#Differences_between_mingw32_and_ming
> > w-w32_versions
> > >>>
> > >>> Mingw-w64 began as a spin-off from the mingw.org project, with the
> > >>> original intent of building for 64-bit targets. Nonetheless,
> > >>> mingw-w64 has retro-compatibility with the 32bit MinGW version,
> > >>> thus enabling a
> > >>> 2-in-1 build package for 32 and 64bit Windows systems.
> > >>>
> > >>> On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 7:59 PM,<marius.storm-olsen at nokia.com>
> > wrote:
> > >>>> On 19/04/2012 17:06, ext 1+1=2 wrote:
> > >>>>>>   From the homepage of project,
> > >>>>>> http://mingwbuilds.sourceforge.net/
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>      This is the MinGW-builds project ("mingwbuilds")
> > >>>>>      This project was registered on SourceForge.net on Mar 30,
> > >>>>> 2012,
> > and
> > >>>>> is described by the project team as follows:
> > >>>>>      Snapshots and releases builds of the MinGW compiler that
> > >>>>> use CRT & WinAPI from the mingw-w64 project. Builds support
> > >>>>> the
> > following
> > >>>>> technologies: - OpenMP - LTO - Graphite - std Concurrency
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> So, the official homepage should be: http://mingw-
> > w64.sourceforge.net/
> > >>>>
> > >>>> No, the first project is not related to the other. MinGW-builds
> > >>>> was just recently moved from
> > >>>> http://code.google.com/p/mingw-builds/ to
> > >>>> http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingwbuilds, hence the new date
> > >>>> on
> > the
> > >>>> Sourceforge project page.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> MinGW-builds only snags the *CRT* and *WinAPI* parts from the
> > MinGW-w64
> > >>>> project, but is otherwise unrelated.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> MinGW-w64 distributes MinGW binaries which require Cygwin to run,
> > while
> > >>>> the MinGW-builds project distributes native Win32 versions of
> MinGW.
> > >>>> Only the latter is acceptable to the Qt Project.
> > >>>>
> > >>>> --
> > >>>> .marius
> > >>>>
> > >>>>
> > >>>>> Regards,
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Debao
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 2:32 PM,<marius.storm-olsen at nokia.com>
> > wrote:
> > >>>>>> If you click the link in Daniels initial email, and onto the
> > >>>>>> windows host
> > directory, you would see that the have both the 4.7.0 release and the
> > 4.7.1 prerelease as binaries already.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> --
> > >>>>>> Sent from my Nokia N9
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> On 4/19/12 16:14 ext Mark wrote:
> > >>>>>> 2012/4/19<daniel.molkentin at nokia.com>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> Hi Everyone,
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> After several complains from the community that GCC 4.4 shipped
> > with both Creator and the Qt SDK is fairly outdated (and not C++11
> > compliant), we are going to ship a mingw.org-based GCC 4.6.2 with the
> > next Qt Creator release. Even though we verified that this works with
> > the MinGW 4.4 compiled Qt releases from the Qt SDK, I think we should
> > agree on a common version. Thus, I want to come to an agreement with
> > all relevant stakeholders in the Qt  Project on which MinGW to ship.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>    From my POV, the following things are important when
> > >>>>>> choosing a
> > "proper" MinGW-based compiler:
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> -          Prefer existing MinGW distros* over compiling&
> maintaining
> > MinGW ourselves (although others may disagree here)
> > >>>>>> -          Make sure they are minimal and centered around C/C++
> > development (i.e. no elaborate gjc cruft like we still have in our
> > current MinGW 4.4 packages)
> > >>>>>> -          Make sure we pick a distro that provides regular updates and
> > provides new GCC versions in a timely manner
> > >>>>>> -          Let's ship both a 64 and a 32 bit version, and ideally ones that
> > provide a cross-compiler respectively
> > >>>>>> -          Let's make sure we start providing them at the same time,
> and
> > we start building our products with them
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> Marius found
> > >>>>>> http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingwbuilds/files/,
> > which seems to satisfy all of the above. Other suggestions/preferences
> > are welcome.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> If deemed necessary, we can also build our own MinGW distro via
> > >>>>>> Qt
> > Project's public build infrastructure (http://builds.qt-project.org).
> > We need good build recipes for that, though, and someone who is
> > willing to maintain them.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> Cheers,
> > >>>>>>     Daniel
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> *) by "Distro" I mean different entities compiling&      providing
> > MinGW releases such as MinGW.org, TDM, etc
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> Why not wait till there is a MingW with GCC 4.7.0 release? I'm
> > >>>>>> asking
> > that since GCC 4.7 adds support for AVX and AMD bulldozer (bdver1)
> > specific compiler optimization which seem to be greatly beneficial for
> > AMD cpu's. So it might be worth the consideration to postpone the next
> > Qt Creator release till there is a MingW with GCC 4.7.0.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> Just my opinion.
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>>
> > >>>>>> Cheers,
> > >>>>>> Mark
> > >>>>>> _______________________________________________
> > >>>>>> Development mailing list
> > >>>>>> Development at qt-project.org
> > >>>>>> http://lists.qt-project.org/mailman/listinfo/development
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