Re: [Mingw-cross-env-list] Python as a build dependency in MXE

[Tony Theodore]

Hi Rick,

> On 17 Jun 2016, at 04:58, Rick van Rein <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> Questions:
> 
> 1. The MXE tree consistently deconfigures Python -- is there a
> structural reason for that?  [other than a plethora of dependencies of
> course]

This is usually done to disable building python extensions for a library
since cross-compiling python itself seems very difficult and I haven’t
heard of anyone doing it successfully.

The other main reason to disable python would be to skip doc generation. 

> 2. Can I expect Python to run on the build env, or should I build (and
> perhaps even install) it?

Python is already required as a build dependency for scons and waf based
packages, the standard requirements instructions[1] should ensure it is 
available.

> 3. Is there a way to download python-parsing as a secondary package to
> the primary source, and use it locally?

You could create a download-only package[2], add it as a dependency, and
manipulate PYTHONPATH variable. However, it may be easier to add it to
the requirements and install with pip. I use Anaconda to manage python 
these days and have mostly forgotten about such things.

> Oh... I almost forgot... we're really happy with the robust building
> framework of MXE!  We use it to port our TLS Pool to Windows,
> http://tlspool.arpa2.net
> https://github.com/arpa2/tlspool

Good to hear! Could you do a PR adding it to the list of projects using
MXE[3]?

Cheers,

Tony


[1] http://mxe.cc/#requirements
[2] https://github.com/mxe/mxe/blob/master/src/mingw-w64.mk
[3] http://mxe.cc/#used-by