[Dune] Discussion Topic for Next Dune Developers' Meeting

[Oliver Sander]

Hi Benedikt!
Thanks for your suggestion!  Here is my opinion on it, and I think many
Dune developers will agree with me:

There has been no deliberate decision not to support windows.  However,
we have also never heard from anybody who seriously wanted to use Dune
on Windows.  You are right in that Windows is extremely widespread, but
in the scientific computing community Linuxen and Mac actually dominate.

If there ever should be a request for a Windows port we would need help 
from somebody
who knows the platform, because a) I'm not sure whether we have the 
necessary
skills and b) we don't have the manpower.  That being said, with Cygwin 
et al.,
using Dune on Windows may not be very difficult at all.

Best regards,
Oliver

Oswald Benedikt schrieb:
> Dear Dune Developers, since the next developers' meeting is currently discussed, I have a suggestion to bring along.
>
> I should first state that we here at PSI use Dune on Linux almost since it was released to the general public and we are
> enthusiastic about it. Since it allows us to concentrate on physics modeling and much less on programming problems,
> e.g. compared with UG that I have also used for quite some time.
>
> Now, since Dune compiles usually very well also on Mac OS X platforms, much of my development work happens
> on this platform, later I run the same code on Linux clusters and on the Cray XT5 in Manno.
>
> After this lengthy introduction, I bluntly dare to suggest:
>
> think of making Dune available on the Windows platform as well, make the adaptations
> required so that it compiles without any hassle. For example the Qt GUI project does this
> (www.trolltech.com).
>
> Before you bury me under a heap of protest, let me say, I DO NOT LIKE windows,  I find it uncool
> and an uninspired operating system.
>
> Nevertheless, it is a fact of life that it is very widespread and, therefore, it could help to further the cause
> of Dune to a much wider audience in the long run.
>
> Just that you get me right, I will as long as I can determine it, never switch to Windows for development!
>
> But think on the impact if Dune is suddenly available to a much wider audience!
>
>
> Have a nice day! Benedikt Oswald
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Benedikt Oswald, Dr. sc. techn., dipl. El. Ing. ETH, www.psi.ch, Computational Accelerator Scientist
> Paul Scherrer  Institute (PSI), CH-5232 Villigen, Suisse, benedikt.oswald at psi.ch, +41(0)56 310 32 12
>
> "Passion is required for any great work, and for the Revolution passion and audacity are required in big doses.", 
> Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, Letter to his parents.
>
> http://maxwell.psi.ch/amaswiki/index.php/User:BenediktOswald 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
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-- 
************************************************************************
* Oliver Sander                ** email: sander at mi.fu-berlin.de        *
* Freie Universität Berlin     ** phone: + 49 (30) 838 75348           *
* Institut für Mathematik      ** URL  : page.mi.fu-berlin.de/~sander  *
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