enable Windows build

[yarikoptic]

Any clue how difficult that would be? ;)

Blockers for "proper" package/functionality in conda

• there is only m2-bash + posix (also from m2) to provide coreutils. Unfortunately bash from m2-bash filters out some PATH variables making it unfit for use by git-annex (and datalad) here m2-bash: looses PATHs, prevents any use as a shell to run other commands from conda ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues#12124
• there might be many more we do not know yet about since did not try ;)

[yarikoptic]

datalad/datalad-extensions#40 might pave the way (although not sure about libmagic since cross-building is probably not allowed, but probably build could just fetch the artifact from datalad-extensions or eventually "official" source).

[yarikoptic]

ok -- we have 2 ways to proceed:

• try to reproduce that github actions build recipe (now complete and works! with libmagic support)
• "cheat": download git-annex-installer.exe, 7z x it and place binaries (if any moving needed) where desired. I would if that would work (yet to try, but I will). Note: we are not yet re-distributing those binary builds "publicly" (TODO: https://github.com/datalad/datalad-extensions/issues/46) so we could start with "stock" git-annex
  • known "issue": our builds do not work on windows 7 AFAIK.

[yarikoptic]

@notestaff what would be your thinking/desire? ;)

[notestaff]

"try to reproduce that github actions build recipe" seems more correct. Long-term, if something changes in the conda-forge build process, a recipe that does the building itself is more likely to still work / be easier to adjust? Unfortunately right now I don't have the bandwidth to figure this out, or the knolwedge of building on Windows...

[yarikoptic]

yeah, bandwidth is limited here too and I always double think when I impose Windows goodness on someone ;) So what about two stage

• short term -- "cheat" way, from http://datasets.datalad.org/datalad/packages/windows/ (I am testing such pure "extract" locally in a VM ATM)
• long term -- "proper" build (there is little point to struggle if we see that windows build from "cheat" is "not working").

edit PS: I can take care about "cheat" one ;)

[notestaff]

Sounds good. This won't be the only recipe to use such a "cheat" until a better way gets worked out.

[notestaff]

p.s. what I really wish we had on Windows was a cygwin-based version, but unfortunately GHC has stopped supporting cygwin