Rules for building apps [was Re: runtime failure in 20000710 and 20000711 snapshots]

[Charles Wilson <cwilson at ece dot gatech dot edu>]

[cross-posted to cygwin-apps]

Chris Faylor wrote:
> >
> >Is it expected that programs/dlls compiled with the new (20000711 and
> >later) libcygwin.a will fail with older installations?
> 
> If by "older installations" you mean "snapshots after 1.1.2", then yes.

Yes, that is what I meant.

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I read the cygwin-developer
archives, but sometimes for us "outsiders" the forest gets hidden by the
trees.

> Throughout all of this, however, I expect that executables built in the
> last two years will still work correctly with any snapshot.  That's my
> goal for 1.1.3, at least.  I also expect that when 1.1.3 is released,
> executables linked with libcygwin.a will work correctly with 1.1.2.
> They just will not be able to take advantage of some new functionality
> in 1.1.3.

So, if I'm compiling a library or application that will be included in
'latest' or 'contrib' on sourceware, I should follow these rules:

1) If the library/app does not need the new functionality introduced in
the snapshots post-1.1.2, then it should be compiled on a stock 1.1.2
system. No cygwin1.dll snapshots or updated libcygwin.a. Then, my
package will work on 1.1.2 and 1.1.3 when it is released, but =might=
fail on 1.1.2post/1.1.3pre snapshots (certainly the goal is that any app
compiled with 1.1.2 will work with the snapshots, but in any case these
failures if they occur will not be an issue because who'd use an old
snapshot once the final 1.1.3 is released?).

(Aside: Michael's vim-5.7 package was compiled using
binmode.o/textmode.o, correct? Then it falls into case #2 below:)

2) If the library/app *does* depend on the new functionality introduced
in the post-1.1.2 snapshots, then I can build/test with current
snapshots, but I should not release it for general consumption until
1.1.3 is released. Otherwise, many FAQs will be generated since my
package may (or may not) fail on any given user's system, depending on
which version of cygwin they have installed (1.1.2, 1.1.2post/1.1.3pre
snaps).

Right?

--Chuck

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