[darcs-devel] [issue1846] Darcs does not build in out-of-the-box Haskell Platform on Windows

[Eric Kow]

Eric Kow <kowey at darcs.net> added the comment:

On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 12:14:42 +0000, Bob Calco wrote:
> After fresh install of Haskell Platform 2010.1.0.0 (using GHC 6.12.1) on
> Windows 7, running 'cabal install darcs' fails when it cannot find
> curl-related headers and C libraries.

Alright, we've got to work out to what extent this is Darcs bug.

Is our documentation adequate?
------------------------------

* The manual claims that building darcs with just 'cabal install' is the
  "Easy Way".  This claim is false under Windows unless you have curl
  installed.  The Easy Way under Windows would be to build with 'cabal
  install -f-curl' (although right now, people would be really much
  better off with Curl, if I understand correctly).

* http://wiki.darcs.net/BuildingUnderWindows seems to reflect reality
  very well, even telling you how to grab the MSYS curl stuff.

Bob, any comments there?

> Also: Which compiler(s)/version(s) must be present (and used to compile
> dependent C libraries) to ensure binary compatibility? MS C++, MSYS,
> Cygwin?
 
Do you think this is adequately addressed by the docs?

Is our build system adequate?
-----------------------------
> setup.exe: Missing dependencies on foreign libraries:
> * Missing header file: curl/curl.h
> * Missing C libraries: curl, curl
> This problem can usually be solved by installing the system packages that
> provide these libraries (you may need the "-dev" versions). If the libraries
> are already installed but in a non-standard location then you can use the
> flags --extra-include-dirs= and --extra-lib-dirs= to specify where they are.
> cabal: Error: some packages failed to install:
> darcs-2.4.3 failed during the configure step. The exception was:
> ExitFailure 1

It sounds like Cabal is giving enough information to work out what's
going wrong here.

I wonder... what are good solutions to this problem, though?

Do we stand to gain much by making things fancier, for example by
detecting that the user does not have the curl libraries we need
and if so, default to HTTP?
 
-- 
Eric Kow <http://www.nltg.brighton.ac.uk/home/Eric.Kow>
PGP Key ID: 08AC04F9

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title: Darcs does not build in out-of-the-box Haskell Platform on Windows -> Darcs does not build in out-of-the-box Haskell Platform	on Windows

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