How to build gcompris on Windows FIXME: http://sources.redhat.com/ml/cygwin/1999-05/msg00249.html tells how to associate Gcompris.ico with Gcompris.exe 1: MINGW =========== * MinGW (www.mingw.org) is the Minimalist GNU for Windows. Unlike cygwin, apps built with MinGW don't require any middleware libraries to run. That's why I chose it over cygwin for Gcompris. * Download the "MinGW" installer exe and install into c:\mingw\ . * Download the "MSYS" and "MSYS Developer Toolkit" installer exes and install into c:\msys\ . * if msvcrt.dll is not in your Windows/System folder, get it from http://www.simtel.net/simtel.net/win95/dll or by installing Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher 2: LIBRARY PREREQUISITES ======================== I installed each of the prerequisites in its own directory underneath c:\msys\1.0\opt\, so that (1) they're easy to blow away piece-by-piece to upgrade to newer versions, and (2) they show up as /opt/gtk, /opt/libxml, and so on from msys, which is reasonably clear. If you choose a different hierarchy make sure to tweak your Makefile.mingw. WARNING: Library Microsoft mscrt71.dll. This library is needed only due to python. Based on microsoft wev site, it is freely redistributable if you get the free Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326922/fr This library is not free software. 2.1 GTK ======= + gcompris needs gtk to run. * Install the latest "GTK Runtime Environment" and "GTK Development Environment" -- *IN THAT ORDER* -- from http://sourceforge.net/projects/gtk-win/ into c:\msys\1.0\opt\gtk * edit /opt/gtk/bin/glib-gettextize, replace "/target" with "/gtk" * sanity check: you should now be able to run gtk-demo.exe from msys. 2.2 LIBXML2 =========== + gcompris needs libxml2 to run. * Snag a tarball from ftp://xmlsoft.org/ and untar it in your msys home directory. * ./configure --prefix=/libxml2; make; make install 2.3 OTHER ========= Look at the NEEDED_DLLS section in the Makefile.mingw and make sure you have all of those. 2.6 PREREQUISITE SUMMARY ======================== * At this point, you must have the following subdirectories: GTK_TOP := /gtk GNUWIN32_TOP := /gnuwin32 LIBXML2_TOP := /libxml2 SDL_TOP := /sdl CANVAS_TOP := /gnomecanvas GNUCHESS_TOP := /gnuchess 3: BUILDING GCOMPRIS.EXE ======================== * On a GNU/Linux system, create gcompris-win-prepack.tar.gz with: make -f Makefile.mingw prep * Now on the windows system: * Get a tarball or CVS snapshot of gcompris. * untar the gcompris-win-prepack.tar.gz in it * Manual fix, replace chess.c by chess.c.windows * run: make -f Makefile.mingw from gcompris's top-level directory. This will take a long time. * run: make -f Makefile.mingw prepack to include all necessary libraries in the installer directory * run: make -f Makefile.mingw install to include the generated code in the installer directory * run: make -f Makefile.mingw python to created an embedded python interpreter the win32-install-dir should contain anything needed to run and package GCompris. * run make -f Makefile.make installer to create the installer The installer used is NSIS get it there: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page And install it in it's default /c/Program Files/NSIS/makensis.exe The GCompris package is created, double click on it from your file manager to test it.