[Zope-dev] ZTK & Windows support

[Tres Seaver]

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Martijn Faassen wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> I've heard some noises from people that might or might not indicate 
> something about the status of Windows support in the ZTK.
> 
> If support would be dropped, let me just say that this would be a 
> problem for me, a ZTK consumer. I personally have customers that deploy 
> Grok on Windows (as a desktop application). Eventually I'll want to 
> upgrade that software to a version of Grok that use the ZTK.
> 
> It's also a problem for Grok. Grok tries to support Windows. Grok is 
> best served in general if people can run it on Windows to at least try 
> things out.
> 
> I am making a request as a consumer of the ZTK that Windows support is 
> to be taken somewhat seriously.
> 
> And no, I'm not stepping up to do the work. But perhaps this thread can 
> serve as a positive starting point for those who do.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Martijn
> 
> P.S. I realize that work to support Windows is being done by several 
> people, including Hanno. Thanks!

I haven't argued that we should make a de jure proclamation of
non-support for the ZTK on Windows:  in fact, I perceive that it would
be a Good Thing (TM) if the ZTK worked flawlessly on that platform.

We are, however, in a perilous position with respect to Windows:  the
tests fail routinely on that platform, and nobody who *needs* to have
ZTK supported on Windows has stepped up to at least help with diagnosing
and fixing those test failures.  Those of us who don't run or use
Windows anywhere *cannot* do the initial legwork on those issues, nor
can we verify any proposed fix for them.  We *may* be able to help
implement a fix, once somebody does the legwork / diagnosis.  Until the
tests pass routinely on Windows, any claim that "ZTK is supported on
Windows" is a bit of a sham.

AFAIK, clearing those Windows test failures is the remaining blocker to
a ZTK 1.0 release at this time;  the release team is holding back on the
1.0 release precisely because of the perceived value in having the ZTK
packages work on Windows.

The efforts by Adam and others to provide Windows binaries for the ZTK
and related packages address the other major issue with claiming Windows
support:  since tool-deprived Windows developers can't install packages
from source (those requiring C extensiosn, at least), having the
binaries available is a great way to make the packages attractive.


Tres.
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Tres Seaver          +1 540-429-0999          tseaver at palladion.com
Palladion Software   "Excellence by Design"    http://palladion.com
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