Re: ./configure fails to link test program due to missing dependencies

> On 9/26/24 9:55 AM, Phillip Wood wrote:
>> One thing to bear in mind is why our CMakeLists.txt was introduced in
>> the first place [1]. Visual Studio's CMake integration means that so
>> long as git-for-windows is installed building git is simply a case of
>> clicking on a button, there is no need to install extra software or
>> plugins. I'm not sure the same is true for meson and I don't think we
>> want to end up supporting both.
> 
> 
> I can't really offer suggestions on what may or may not come
> preinstalled in Visual Studio. That thread does suggest the major
> problem cmake was trying to solve is:
> 
> - having to install the git-for-windows sdk at all (is it still
>    necessary? I guess so, because POSIX shell and perl and mingw
>    runtimes. Unsure how either meson or cmake could solve this.)

> - people who are *unfamiliar with the command line and want a GUI*
> 
> 
> Meson has a trivially installable VS Code plugin that is supposed to
> handle setting up the project for you. You can generate either ninja
> projects or Visual Studio solutions. "One may need to install a plugin"
> is hopefully not as big a barrier to entry as "install a bunch of stuff
> then go to a shell and run make vcxproj". Is the criteria truly "must be
> one button click"?

> [...]
> Stuff like "how painful is it for a Windows contributor to set up an SDK
> and then also go mess around with Makefile targets and then load the
> result into their IDE" is an interesting discussion to have but not
> quite the same as saying "go to the marketplace and install such and
> such plugin" is an obstacle.