Gtk Win32 cross-development with installer

["Jeff Bonggren" <35t5quf02 sneakemail com>]

I'm looking for a way to build GTK apps for Win32 using either Linux or
Cygwin as a development environment.  I also need an easy way to install
the many files needed for the GTK runtime on user systems.  I want the
GTK runtime files to be built using the same development environment
(not using VC++, etc).

I have seen Tor Lillqvist's zip files.  My problem with them is that
they are too complex for most users to install (they are a pain even for
me).  Jernej Simoncic's installer is much more promising, but I don't
want to depend on one person to keep it maintained.  I'd like to have a
reproducible way to get from the sources to the binary installer without
depending on a single builder.  Don't get me wrong, they have both done
great and commendable work, but I'd like to find a more consistent and
transparent way to get this done.

I spent many weekends during 2003 trying to get the whole GTK tree (with
dependencies) to build reliably on Linux to cross-compile to MinGW.  I
rolled the whole thing up into a set of SRPM files so it was
reproducible and scripted.  I had to make lots of makefile and autoconf
patches for the various packages.  Some of them were accepted by the
package maintainers.  I even had to make substantial changes to MinGW so
it would get along with libtool (those changes weren't accepted).  I did
finally get everything built and working.

However, I got discouraged when I realized just how many files were
needed by GTK at runtime (over and above the direct-linked DLLs).  There
are many dynamically loaded modules as well as locale files,
configuration files, themes, etc.  I decided to give up for a while and
let things advance on their own.  Unfortunately, I never got around to
putting my work on the net for others.  I was recently encouraged to get
back into this after seeing Jernej's installer.

I'm willing to put the time in to make this work.  I admit I haven't
been following the mailing lists, so I may be missing something and
duplicating effort.  If anyone else is currently working on this, I can
help.  I know the code. I'm good with autoconf, automake, gcc, mingw,
make, etc.

If I am on my own, I would like to see how the existing Win32 builds are
accomplished.  My MinGW cross-builds were difficult in 2003.  Very few
packages would build without mods.  The Win32 port of GTK has been
around for a long time now and it should build without a problem for
someone at least!  I must be trying something that the gtk-win32
maintainer didn't intend.  I have seen Allin Cottrell's page, but it
gives general instructions, not scripts.

I'd appreciate if anyone could point me at any previous or existing
projects working in this direction.

Jeff Bonggren
35t5quf02 sneakemail com