<s>
MinGW	B-Application
(	O
"	O
Minimalist	B-Application
GNU	I-Application
for	I-Application
Windows	I-Application
"	O
)	O
,	O
formerly	O
mingw32	B-Application
,	O
is	O
a	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open	I-License
source	I-License
software	I-License
development	O
environment	O
to	O
create	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
includes	O
a	O
port	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
Compiler	I-Application
Collection	I-Application
(	O
GCC	B-Application
)	O
,	O
GNU	B-Application
Binutils	I-Application
for	O
Windows	O
(	O
assembler	B-Application
,	O
linker	B-Application
,	O
archive	B-Application
manager	I-Application
)	O
,	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
freely	O
distributable	O
Windows	O
specific	O
header	B-Language
files	I-Language
and	O
static	B-Library
import	I-Library
libraries	I-Library
which	O
enable	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Windows	B-Library
API	I-Library
,	O
a	O
Windows	O
native	O
build	O
of	O
the	B-Application
GNU	I-Application
Project	I-Application
's	O
GNU	B-Language
Debugger	I-Language
,	O
and	O
miscellaneous	O
utilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
does	O
not	O
rely	O
on	O
third-party	B-General_Concept
C	B-Language
runtime	B-Library
dynamic-link	O
library	O
(	O
DLL	O
)	O
files	O
,	O
and	O
because	O
the	O
runtime	B-Library
libraries	I-Library
are	O
not	O
distributed	O
using	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
(	O
GPL	B-License
)	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
necessary	O
to	O
distribute	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
with	O
the	O
programs	O
produced	O
,	O
unless	O
a	O
GPL	B-License
library	O
is	O
used	O
elsewhere	O
in	O
the	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
can	O
be	O
run	O
either	O
on	O
the	O
native	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
platform	O
,	O
cross-hosted	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
(	O
or	O
other	O
Unix	B-Application
)	O
,	O
or	O
"	O
cross-native	O
"	O
on	O
Cygwin	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
programs	O
produced	O
under	O
MinGW	B-Application
are	O
32-bit	O
executables	O
,	O
they	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
both	O
in	O
32	O
and	O
64-bit	O
versions	O
of	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
MinGW	B-Application
project	O
has	O
been	O
forked	B-Application
with	O
the	O
creation	O
in	O
2005	O
–	O
2008	O
of	O
an	O
alternative	O
project	O
called	O
Mingw-w64	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
called	O
mingw32	B-Application
(	O
"	O
Minimalist	O
GNU	O
for	O
W32	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
following	O
the	O
GNU	O
convention	O
whereby	O
Windows	O
is	O
shortened	O
as	O
"	O
W32	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Colin	O
Peters	O
authored	O
the	O
initial	O
release	O
in	O
1998	O
,	O
consisting	O
only	O
of	O
a	O
Cygwin	B-Language
port	O
of	O
GCC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jan-Jaap	O
van	O
der	O
Heijden	O
created	O
a	O
Windows-native	O
port	O
of	O
GCC	B-Application
and	O
added	O
binutils	B-Application
and	O
make	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2000	O
,	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
moved	O
to	O
SourceForge	B-Application
in	O
order	O
to	O
solicit	O
more	O
assistance	O
from	O
the	O
community	O
and	O
centralize	O
its	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
was	O
selected	O
as	O
Project	O
of	O
the	O
Month	O
at	O
SourceForge	B-Application
for	O
September	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSYS	B-Application
(	O
a	O
contraction	O
of	O
"	O
Minimal	O
System	O
"	O
)	O
was	O
introduced	O
as	O
a	O
Bourne	B-Device
shell	I-Device
command	O
line	O
interpreter	O
system	O
with	O
the	O
aim	O
of	O
better	O
interoperability	O
with	O
native	O
Windows	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2018	O
,	O
following	O
a	O
disagreement	O
with	O
SourceForge	B-Application
about	O
the	O
administration	O
of	O
its	O
mailing	O
lists	O
,	O
MinGW	B-Application
migrated	O
to	O
OSDN	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2007	O
,	O
a	O
fork	B-Language
of	O
the	O
original	O
MinGW	B-Application
called	O
Mingw-w64	B-Application
appeared	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
provide	O
support	O
for	O
64	O
bits	O
and	O
new	O
APIs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MSYS2	O
(	O
"	O
minimal	O
system	O
2	O
"	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
software	O
distribution	O
and	O
a	O
development	O
platform	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
based	O
on	O
Mingw-w64	B-Application
and	O
Cygwin	B-Language
,	O
that	O
helps	O
to	O
deploy	O
code	O
from	O
the	O
Unix	B-Application
world	O
on	O
Windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
languages	O
supported	O
by	O
GCC	B-Application
are	O
supported	O
on	O
the	O
MinGW	B-Application
port	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
C	B-Language
,	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
Objective-C	B-Language
,	O
Objective-C	B-Language
++	O
,	O
Fortran	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Ada	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GCC	B-Application
runtime	B-Library
libraries	I-Library
are	O
used	O
(	O
libstdc++	O
for	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
libgfortran	O
for	O
Fortran	B-Application
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
links	O
by	O
default	O
to	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
OS	I-Application
component	O
library	O
MSVCRT	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
C	B-Language
library	O
that	O
Visual	B-Application
C++	I-Application
version	O
6.0	O
linked	O
to	O
(	O
the	O
initial	O
target	O
was	O
CRTDLL	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1998	O
and	O
therefore	O
does	O
not	O
include	O
support	O
for	O
C99	B-Language
features	O
,	O
or	O
even	O
all	O
of	O
C89	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
targeting	O
MSVCRT	O
yields	O
programs	O
that	O
require	O
no	O
additional	O
runtime	B-Library
redistributables	O
to	O
be	O
installed	O
,	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
support	O
for	O
C99	B-Language
has	O
caused	O
porting	O
problems	O
,	O
particularly	O
where	O
printf-style	O
conversion	O
specifiers	O
are	O
concerned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
issues	O
have	O
been	O
partially	O
mitigated	O
by	O
the	O
implementation	O
of	O
a	O
C99	B-Language
compatibility	O
library	O
,	O
libmingwex	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
extensive	O
work	O
required	O
is	O
far	O
from	O
complete	O
and	O
may	O
never	O
be	O
fully	O
realized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mingw-w64	B-Application
has	O
resolved	O
these	O
issues	O
,	O
and	O
provides	O
fully	O
POSIX	O
compliant	O
printf	B-Language
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Binaries	O
(	O
executables	O
or	O
DLLs	O
)	O
generated	O
with	O
different	O
C++	B-Language
compilers	B-Language
(	O
like	O
MinGW	B-Application
and	O
Visual	O
Studio	O
)	O
are	O
in	O
general	O
not	O
link	O
compatible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
compiled	B-Language
C	B-Language
code	O
is	O
link	O
compatible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MinGW	B-Application
project	O
maintains	O
and	O
distributes	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
core	O
components	O
and	O
supplementary	O
packages	O
,	O
including	O
various	O
ports	O
of	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
toolchain	I-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
GCC	B-Application
and	O
binutils	B-Application
,	O
translated	O
into	O
equivalent	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
utilities	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
from	O
the	O
Windows	B-Device
command	I-Device
line	I-Device
or	O
integrated	O
into	O
an	O
IDE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Packages	O
may	O
be	O
installed	O
using	O
the	O
command	O
line	O
via	O
mingw-get	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
supports	O
dynamic	O
libraries	O
named	O
according	O
to	O
the	O
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx1.a	O
naming	O
convention	O
common	O
on	O
Unix	B-Application
and	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
a	O
component	O
of	O
MinGW	B-Application
known	O
as	O
MSYS	B-Application
(	O
minimal	O
system	O
)	O
provides	O
Windows	O
ports	O
of	O
a	O
lightweight	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
shell	B-Operating_System
environment	O
including	O
rxvt	B-Application
and	O
a	O
selection	O
of	O
POSIX	O
tools	O
sufficient	O
to	O
enable	O
autoconf	B-Application
scripts	O
to	O
run	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
provide	O
a	O
C	B-Language
compiler	B-Language
or	O
a	O
case-sensitive	O
file	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
mingwPORTs	O
are	O
user	O
contributed	O
additions	O
to	O
the	O
MinGW	B-Application
software	O
collection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rather	O
than	O
providing	O
these	O
"	O
add-ons	O
"	O
as	O
precompiled	O
binary	O
packages	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
supplied	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
interactive	O
Bourne	B-Device
shell	I-Device
scripts	O
,	O
which	O
guide	O
the	O
end	O
user	O
through	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
automatically	O
downloading	O
and	O
patching	O
original	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
then	O
building	O
and	O
installing	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
who	O
wish	O
to	O
build	O
any	O
application	O
from	O
a	O
mingwPORT	O
must	O
first	O
install	O
both	O
MinGW	B-Application
and	O
MSYS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
implementation	O
of	O
Windows	O
system	O
headers	O
and	O
static	B-Library
import	I-Library
libraries	I-Library
are	O
released	O
under	O
a	O
permissive	B-License
license	I-License
,	O
while	O
the	O
GNU	O
ports	O
are	O
provided	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Binary	O
downloads	O
of	O
both	O
the	O
complete	O
MSYS	B-Application
package	O
and	O
individual	O
MinGW	B-Application
GNU	O
utilities	O
are	O
available	O
from	O
the	O
MinGW	B-Application
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
both	O
Cygwin	B-Language
and	O
MinGW	B-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
port	O
Unix	B-Application
software	O
to	O
Windows	O
,	O
they	O
have	O
different	O
approaches	O
:	O
Cygwin	B-Language
aims	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
complete	O
POSIX	O
layer	O
comprising	O
a	O
full	O
implementation	O
of	O
all	O
major	O
Unix	B-Application
system	I-Application
calls	O
and	O
libraries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
other	O
hand	O
,	O
MinGW	B-Application
's	O
priorities	O
are	O
simplicity	O
and	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
provide	O
certain	O
POSIX	O
APIs	O
which	O
cannot	O
easily	O
be	O
implemented	O
using	O
the	O
Windows	B-Library
API	I-Library
,	O
such	O
as	O
fork( )	O
,	O
mmap( )	O
and	O
ioctl( )	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applications	O
written	O
using	O
a	O
cross-platform	B-Operating_System
library	O
that	O
has	O
itself	O
been	O
ported	O
to	O
MinGW	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
SDL	B-Operating_System
,	O
wxWidgets	B-Language
,	O
Qt	B-Language
,	O
or	O
GTK	B-Application
,	O
will	O
usually	O
compile	B-Language
as	O
easily	O
in	O
MinGW	B-Application
as	O
they	O
would	O
in	O
Cygwin	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	O
programs	O
written	O
with	O
Cygwin	B-Language
run	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
a	O
copylefted	B-License
compatibility	O
DLL	O
that	O
must	O
be	O
distributed	O
with	O
the	O
program	O
,	O
unless	O
staticly	O
linked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
dynamically	O
linked	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
must	O
also	O
provide	O
information	O
on	O
where	O
to	O
obtain	O
Cygwin	B-Language
source	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MinGW	B-Application
does	O
not	O
require	O
a	O
compatibility	B-General_Concept
layer	I-General_Concept
,	O
since	O
MinGW-based	O
programs	O
are	O
compiled	B-Language
with	O
direct	O
calls	O
to	O
Windows	B-Library
APIs	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
combination	O
of	O
MinGW	B-Application
and	O
MSYS	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
small	O
,	O
self-contained	O
environment	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
loaded	O
onto	O
removable	O
media	O
without	O
leaving	O
entries	O
in	O
the	O
registry	B-Protocol
or	O
files	O
on	O
the	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
to	O
cross-compile	B-Application
Windows	B-Application
applications	I-Application
with	O
MinGW-GCC	O
under	O
POSIX	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
means	O
that	O
developers	O
do	O
not	O
need	O
a	O
Windows	O
installation	O
with	O
MSYS	B-Application
to	O
compile	B-Language
software	O
that	O
will	O
run	O
on	O
Windows	O
with	O
or	O
without	O
Cygwin	B-Language
.	O
</s>
