Re: NetBSD cross compile from Win32?

[querbach%realtime.bc.ca@localhost (David Querbach)]

> What would it take to build a NetBSD/xxxx cross compile environment
> on Windows?  I managed to get make running under cygwin, and config
> mostly worked, but I didn't have a lot of success trying to get gcc
> to configure.

I once set up gcc for crossing from cygwin to 68HC1x for a customer.  It
worked pretty well, except for small problems in shell scripts here and
there.

I would expect gcc to configure successfully for cygwin-to-NetBSD.  Try
asking for help on the Cygnus "crossgcc" mailing list.  Being able to build
a kernel might be a bit more challenging, due to minor differences between
BSD and GNU utilities.
 
> The reason I'm posting this to tech-embed is that I think it would be
> nice to have a fairly easy to install/use toolchain that a Windows
> user can target NetBSD with.  While most people are willing to install
> NetBSD to host a cross compile environment, for embedded developers it
> would be nice to provide a Windows friendly system.

Yes, embedded developers, for some reason, guard one of the last bastions of
the Windows empire.

But also important is that a well-conceived cross-build system would be able
to cross from other OS's such as Linux.  (For example, I have a customer
that has finally embraced Linux for embedded development.  At this stage,
they would rather cross from Linux to NetBSD than have to dual-boot Linux
and NetBSD.)
 
NetBSD supports crossing from port to port quite well, once you know how to
do it.  I've set up a simplified mechanism for cross-building the NetBSD
tree from port to port, which allows non-root builds.  If you'd like to try
it, I'd be interested in your comments.

> This seems like it would be really nice, particularly for platforms like
> dreamcast, hpcsh, hpcmips, evbsh3, mpc8xx (soon?),

I'm pedalling as fast as I can.  I'm also in the market for someone who
wants mpc8xx bad enough to pay to get it into my main work queue.

> and perhaps sibyte.

> So anyway, I'm just curious if anyone else is thinking about this.

The general case of *nix (including cygwin) to NetBSD is interesting, yes.

Regards,

David Querbach
Real-Time Systems Inc.