Native Windows install progress

[beatgammit]

I am working on a project where I would like to run a node.js app as a
Windows service. This app will just be be a client for a node.js
server. I know that node runs ok under Cygwin, but I'm not too sure
what works and what doesn't.

I found Tatham Oddie's post about getting a node app running in
Windows:
http://blog.tatham.oddie.com.au/2011/03/16/node-js-on-windows/

He said that it isn't stable and shouldn't be used for production.
This leads me to a few questions:

* Is there a goal to get node.js fully supported on MinGW?
* Is there a goal to get it to run natively?
* Is there a list of what works and what doesn't work? If not, I'd
definitely be willing to contribute to some TODO list somewhere...

Note: I'm not a Windows guy, but I realize that Windows is a necessary
evil, especially in the client market.

[Bert Belder]

> * Is there a goal to get node.js fully supported on MinGW?

We are working towards windows support. Currently we are building on
MinGW, although ultimately we are targeting msvc. Whether mingw will
still be supported then is as yet undecided.

> * Is there a goal to get it to run natively?

I don't exactly know what you mean by running natively; does the mingw
build not run natively?
The answer is likely yes.

> * Is there a list of what works and what doesn't work?  If not, I'd
> definitely be willing to contribute to some TODO list somewhere...

An outdated todo list is here: https://github.com/joyent/node/blob/master/TODO.win32
Ryan and I are currently working on liboio (https://github.com/joyent/
libol/), a new platform layer that supports both the windows and unix
aynchronous i/o models. Finishing that is now my first priority.
Btw, you are welcome to do write a todo list, but I doubt that you
know what to put on it :-)

- Bert

[Mike Caron]

Bert, could we get a little more organization on the windows port? I'd like to contribute, but just found this thread. I'm wondering how many others out there are wanting to work on this and we're all disconnected.

Could you write up an update to the out of date wiki todo list? 

[Bert Belder]

The main reason for adding the todo list to the repo was because I
hoped to attract developers that could help me do the port. That
turned out quite disappointing.

That said, anyone who wants to work on the windows port is more than
welcome. In that case please let me know; it's best to catch me on de
#node.js IRC channel where I go by the name 'piscisaureus'.

- Bert

[ryan]

People who are interested in helping with the windows port should begin by writing a networking test for liboio.

E.G. connect to remote host that does not exist, check error code.

[Ryan Dahl]

BTW - i renamed the repository to reflect the name change

https://github.com/joyent/liboio

[beatgammit]

It's good to hear that there is some progress being made.

I don't know what I can really do to help. I'll read up on the
windows networking libraries and hopefully I'll be able to at least
contribute some debugging time.

Anyway, if there is anything else holding back the Windows port, I
think there are many that would like to put in some time working on
it. The possibilities of node are endless, and even more so if it is
stable on Windows. Windows is the perfect client =)

Thanks so much for all of the hard work!

[Marco Aurélio Campos (Gome)]

good to know that progress are been made, if you need testers you can count on me (as i'm not even close a good C/C++ programmer), i'ld just ask for instructions on how to do the testing.