2010-03-10T05:06:05Z Maxwell Copyright 2010, Maxwell SPHPBLOG THUNDERBIRD_3_0_RELEASE tag, you can now grab the Thunderbird 3.0 release code (called "Shredder" due to licensing restrictions) from the Mozilla page.

]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091219-154829 2009-12-19T00:00:00Z 2009-12-19T00:00:00Z
Please download from the Mozilla page.

Because this is pre-release Mozilla source code, the application calls itself "Shredder", highlighting the fact that this is pre-release software. This would be a good time to review my disclaimers.

Please provide any feedback. This build runs on the development machine, but please test it on your own 64-bit Linuxes, and I'll see if it won't work.

UPDATE: I've now compiled from the THUNDERBIRD_3_0_RELEASE tag, so please use that one. (From the Mozilla page)]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091217-200707 2009-12-18T00:00:00Z 2009-12-18T00:00:00Z
If you like the binary builds you see here, consider donating!]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091217-155015 2009-12-17T00:00:00Z 2009-12-17T00:00:00Z
Compiled on sidux, from source tarball provided by Mozilla.

Please download from the Mozilla page.

Seamonkey 2.0.1 is primarily a security release. Head over to the Mozilla Web site to check the release notes (related link).

Please provide any feedback. This build runs on the development machine, but please test it on your own 64-bit Linuxes, and I'll see if it won't work.

]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091217-110448 2009-12-17T00:00:00Z 2009-12-17T00:00:00Z last month's cross compiler setup.

./Configure --cross-compile-prefix=i686-pc-mingw32-

Get OpenSSL 1.0.0-beta4 for Windows/MinGW (and verification signature) today!

openssl-1.0.0-beta4.zip %

EDIT:

You may notice that the dll's are conspicously missing from the above archive. By default, shared libraries are not built when cross-compiling for Windows from Linux. A quick

make build-shared

remedies this.

openssl-1.0.0-beta4-libs.zip %

]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091207-110312 2009-12-07T00:00:00Z 2009-12-07T00:00:00Z
Do you have a web host which allows you shell access? Theoretically, this should give you more control over the server software that you can manage on your own. However, if the best you can do from the shell is edit the configuration files of your antiquated software, I don't see how much good that is.

One area to watch for is the /etc/rc.d/ directory. If you can add links in this directory, then you can make sure your custom software loads even during a server restart. If your host doesn't allow you to disable that antiquated version of Apache, then change the configuration file to listen only on localhost, and a non-standard port (or even break the config). Compile a new version of Apache with the latest OpenSSL (or GNUTLS), and place it in a directory that you can write to (can you place directories under /usr/local?).

Watch out for an upcoming section on usr-local packages. Pre-built software ready to roll by untar'ing into /usr/local.

Apache 2.2.14, OpenSSL 1.0.0-beta3
wine
latest Java
... etc.]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091112-221045 2009-11-13T00:00:00Z 2009-11-13T00:00:00Z de-facto cross compiler for the mingw target, on the Linux build environment. No, wait, I'm not. I hit my second unrecoverable error building gcc.

I stumbled upon a contender, however, during my second build attempt. A single make file that uses familiar syntax, has lots of options, has an active release history, and which has supported gcc4 since 2007. I'm talking about Savannah-hosted "non-gnu" mingw-cross-env.

This is the first Makefile I've seen that includes screenshots. If I can see it, I might believe it, and this one gives me hope.

Compare:



to

*

and

]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091110-070356 2009-11-10T00:00:00Z 2009-11-10T00:00:00Z
My idea of cross-platform software is that it should ideally be 100% same-source for any platform.

Java software is written to a virtual machine, which is ported to various operating systems and architectures. Interpreted languages have an interpreter for different environments, so that software written in the interpreted language is instantly portable.

Software written in compiled languages, such as C and C++, has faced a challenge in being portable to multiple environments. Historically, the compiler market has been dominated by a few large companies in each camp. Now that the dust has settled, there are several compilers which have been ported to different architectures. Standards for portable code have emerged.

Libraries are cross platform. Where once software had to be compiled against library A for Windows, library B for Mac OS, and libraries X, Y, and Z for Linux du jour. Well, some free and open source libraries, while being written to be "cross-platform", have only ever been packaged and distributed regularly for UNIX-like OS's.

On Linux, for example, even if one recompiles the library from source, the dependencies (compiler, linkable libraries), are likely already installed on the user's machine. Linux distributions tend to make it easy to satisfy any unmet dependencies.

The Linux ship has been sailing far on the winds of the open source community. When a Windows binary emerges which uses FOSS cross-platform libraries, the end user usually has to rely on the packager for updated binaries. Windows binary distributions are often infrequently updated and distributed to the latest source. On Linux, it's usually painless to download the latest source code, configure, and build.

Well, if the community hasn't released a Windows binary in a long time, can't I just download the source and type configure && make? Umm, wheres your GCC?

Well, we do have GCC for Windows. We even have a POSIX environment that somewhat resembles a distribution. But we don't really have a stack that's sturdy enough to rely on for download-and-go building of binaries which we can distribute to our less-than-autoconf-ready friends.

I believe that the MinGW stack, built on top of the GNU Compiler Collection is the start of this endeavor. However, the official release is steady-as-she-goes, living in GCC version 3.4.5. That's ok. But an application that is cross-platform relies on more than a C compiler. It relies on development libraries.

For MinGW there is no apt-get install libwhatever-dev to satisfy dependencies. The libraries which are used most often by cross-platform applications are scattered far and wide, even though many applications now rely on the same libraries.

The community dust has settled on a few common libraries, and where this dust has settled, one man has gathered the dust and made a brick.

Stephan T. Lavavej has put together a MinGW distribution which includes several often-used libraries: boost, freetype, GLee, bzip2, jpeg, ogg, png, vorbis, SDL, zlib.

Some development outfits also support Windows builds by providing the tool stack with their source code. The Mozilla Foundation packages a set of mozilla-build tools, rescuing us point-and-go software enthusiasts from dependency hassles.

What would I like to see in the future? A binary distribution center for Windows cross platform software. How can such a repository meet the speed at which many libraries are updated? A reliable tool stack which can be integrated into a continuous integration system. A Maven for MinGW? We'll see.]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091109-010021 2009-11-09T00:00:00Z 2009-11-09T00:00:00Z
Please download from the Mozilla page.
]]> http://www.crosscompile.net/index.php?entry=entry091105-225817 2009-11-06T00:00:00Z 2009-11-06T00:00:00Z