Windows/Zero

[Kim Barrett]

On 4/22/25 8:46 AM, Julian Waters wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Zero currently cannot compile on Windows, and to my knowledge, has
> never been able to compile on Windows. [...]
> 
> I started work again recently to get Zero working with VC. [...]
> 
> I'd like to float the idea of supporting Windows/Zero properly.
> [...]
>
> 
> Thoughts?

Quoting from https://openjdk.org/jeps/479 "Remove the Windows 32-bit x86 Port":

"Windows 10, the last Windows operating system to support 32-bit operation,
will reach End of Life in October 2025."

That suggests the community of 32-bit Windows users is very small, and will
only get smaller.  The delivery of that JEP and the fact that zero has never
worked on Windows at all suggests the community of 32-bit Windows users with
new development needs is essentially nonexistent.

So providing a way to run new versions of Java on 32-bit Windows doesn't seem
to me to be at all motivating.

A port needs an active community to be considered alive and supported.  I
don't see that here.  All I see is potential costs, with no demonstrated gain.

I don't think "Ideally, Zero should run on any platform, so it not running on
Windows would be surprising" is a good reason.  I think the purpose of zero is
to provide a stepping stone toward support for a new platform where none
currently exists.  That's not what we have here.

The addition of zero-specific conditionalization in shared code in this work
seems quite suspicious, given that zero currently works for non-Windows.

Sorry to be raining on your parade, but this doesn't seem useful to me.