[bug-gnu-libiconv] Re: ICONV

[Bruno Haible]

Ivan Gavrilyuk asked:
> Why Microsoft C++ (main compiler on Windows platform) is not supported
> anymore?

The last libiconv release that supported MSVC was libiconv 1.11.1.

The main reason is that mingw produces libraries and executables that are
interoperable with MSVC libraries and executables, and

  - It is better to recommend a free compiler, not a proprietary one that
    has arbitrary limits built-in (like a maximum number of local variables
    declared in a function).

  - People distributing executables from GPLed/LGPLed code, built with
    MSVC 7 or newer, have a hard time supporting older platforms like
    Windows 2000 while at the same time avoiding a GPL violation. There
    are no such problems with mingw.

  - MSVC does not come with a "make" program that groks Makefiles generated
    by the GNU build system. Maintaining extra Makefiles for 'nmake' had
    become too tedious.

Bruno