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| -rw-r--r-- | docs/INSTALL | 54 |
1 files changed, 42 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/docs/INSTALL b/docs/INSTALL index ecfd15069..2d0d7f1a2 100644 --- a/docs/INSTALL +++ b/docs/INSTALL @@ -249,19 +249,49 @@ Win32 MSVC 6 caveats -------------- - If you use MSVC 6 it is required that you use the MS PSDK: + If you use MSVC 6 it is required that you use the February 2003 edition PSDK: http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdkupdate/psdk-full.htm - The headers and libs provided with MSVC 6 are now more than 10 years old - and not sufficient for a build of libcurl / curl with common features! - Without the PSDK you will run into these issues: - - LDAPv3 is not supported --> breaks compilation - - IPv6 support is incomplete --> breaks compilation - - socklen_t type is missing --> breaks compilation - If you really need to compile without PSDK then you can workaround these - issues by disabling LDAP and IPv6 support, and adding a line: - typedef int socklen_t; - to the winsock2.h header. This is however not recommended, and you should - use the PSDK whenever possible! + + Building any software with MSVC 6 without having PSDK installed is just + asking for trouble down the road once you have released it, you might notice + the problems in the first corner or ten miles ahead, depending mostly on your + choice of static vs dynamic runtime and third party libraries. Anyone using + software built in such way will at some point regret having done so. + + When someone uses MSVC 6 without PSDK he is using a compiler back from 1998. + + If the compiler has been updated with the installation of a service pack as + those mentioned in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/194022 the compiler can be + safely used to read source code, translate and make it object code. + + But, even with the service packs mentioned above installed, the resulting + software generated in such an environment will be using outdated system + header files and libraries with bugs and security issues which have already + been addressed and fixed long time ago. + + In order to make use of the updated system headers and fixed libraries + for MSVC 6, it is required that 'Platform SDK', PSDK from now onwards, + is installed. The specific PSDK that must be installed for MSVC 6 is the + February 2003 edition, which is the latest one supporting the MSVC 6 compiler, + this PSDK is also known as 'Windows Server 2003 PSDK' and can be downloaded + from http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdkupdate/psdk-full.htm + + So, building curl and libcurl with MSVC 6 without PSDK is absolutely + discouraged for the benefit of anyone using software built in such + environment. And it will not be supported in any way, as we could just + be hunting bugs which have already been fixed way back in 2003. + + When building with MSVC 6 we attempt to detect if PSDK is not being used, + and if this is the case the build process will fail hard with an error + message stating that the February 2003 PSDK is required. This is done to + protect the unsuspecting and avoid PEBKAC issues. + + Additionally it might happen that a die hard MSVC hacker still wants to + build curl and libcurl with MSVC 6 without PSDK installed, even knowing + that this is a highly discouraged and unsupported build environment. In + this case the brave of heart will be able to build in such an environment + with the requisite of defining preprocessor symbol ALLOW_MSVC6_WITHOUT_PSDK + in lib/config-win32.h and knowing that LDAP and IPv6 support will be missing. MSVC from command line ---------------------- |