[MonoDevelop] Re: Thank you for the Experimental Mono Win32 installer!

[Francisco T. Martinez]

Francisco T. Martinez wrote:

My reply comments can be read in-line.

> Hywel Thomas wrote:
>
>> Dear Paco,
>>
>> I'd like to send my unsolicited thanks for all the efforts you have 
>> put in to
>> providing the Mono Win32 installer with Gnome, gtk-sourceview-sharp, 
>> etc. I've
>> been following the Mono and Gtk# progress for some time now, but have 
>> not had
>> time to get involved in any detailed way.  
>
Your thanks are most appreciated and are the fuel that keeps me 
motivated and going.

>> I've been particularly interested in
>> using the MonoDevelop Core as a framework for my own Control Systems 
>> Design
>> tools, and it is particularly important to me to be able to run this 
>> on both
>> Win32 and Linux.  Last year I made a start on looking at what might 
>> be needed to
>> run just the core of MonoDevelop on Win32, but all the great work you 
>> have put
>> in on the Gnome libraries has now brought this so much closer.  My 
>> own feeling
>> is that since SharpDevelop and MD have diverged so much, getting MD 
>> to run on
>> both Win32 and Linux is especially important, and hasn't been given the
>> importance that it deserves. 
>
I agree to an extent.  The problem is that MD is still under heavy 
development.  Don't get me wrong, MD has become such a great development 
tool. My most sincere thanks to Todd Berman, Lluis Sanchez and the many 
other contributors that have work so hard to get it to the point it is 
today.

Another problem is the level of maturity that some of the require 
dependencies of MD have under Win32.  We have only managed to put out a 
couple of installers so far were we introduce GNOME and Gnome# on Windows.

Having said that, I can tell you that after minor modifications to the 
MD's build files and modify two files of the actual MonoDevelop 0.8 I 
managed to compile it under Win32.  Yet, it would not get passed the 
unfinished drawn splash screen and it would just hang there without 
emitting any actionable errors.  The code base for MD has be reorganized 
and changed substantially since 0.8.  Therefore, I had decided to halt 
my porting efforts for the time being, and renew efforts to revitalize 
tools like the Visual Studio Add-in and one of it most significant 
components, prj2make.  The idea being that at least we could improve the 
capabilities of both:

export Visual Studio C# projects to MD format.

Create true cross platform Makefiles from MD solutions and project files.

>> I would like to see how much of the MD core could now run on Win32, 
>> and thought
>> that helping out on the documentation of the core might be a way to 
>> contribute
>> at the same time as getting familiar with the latest structures.  I 
>> seemed to
>> remember some time ago seeing a suggestion that MD was sufficiently 
>> mature to
>> start such a documentation effort, but I can't track down the 
>> reference, and
>> don't know if anyone took it on, or whether it is being coordinated 
>> at all.  At
>> the time, it sounded as if the equivalent of the SharpDevelop book 
>> was being
>> started for MD. Do you know if this ever happened?  Or how far off MD 
>> might be
>> from running on Win32?   
>

As far as documenting and actively contributing to MonoDevelop, I have 
copied the MonoDevelop list on the list of addressees to this reply.  
You could subscribe to the MonoDevelop mailing list here:
http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/monodevelop-list

This list is the correct forum to stay inform with the latest 
developments on MD and to proposed some of the great suggestions you have.

>> With best wishes,
>> Hywel Thomas
>> ____________________________________________
>>
>> www.controlspecialists.co.uk
>> E-Mail: hywel at controlspecialists.co.uk
>> ____________________________________________
>

Hope this helps and will see you soon on the [MonoDevelop] list!

Paco