Re: When I went to install distcc for a new machine, I couldn't find it...

On 2025-11-17 12:19, marco atzeri via Cygwin wrote:
> On Tue, 18 Nov 2025, 02:36 Soren via Cygwin,  wrote:
> 
>> Hello Cygwinstas,
>>
>> I installed distcc from setup.exe awhile ago, although I didn't have a host
>> (what distcc docs call a 'volunteer') machine to share compilation. Now I
>> have such a machine (dropped over a grand on it with tax) and I have base
>> cygwin installed on it (+ some good stuff like binutils and gcc, you get
>> the picture). One of my main motivations for this acquisition was to
>> provide a powerful system to do distributed C compiling for Cygwin builds.
>> When I went to install distcc for the new machine, I couldn't find it.
>> Clearly distcc has been removed from the Cygwin collection, and I presume
>> that's because it was unmaintained for a long period of time.
>>
>> I would really like to see distcc re-included in Cygwin. So much so that I
>> am going to offer to be its maintainer. I recently built distcc 3.4 from
>> Debian `sid'
>>
> 
> So I said above that I'd be willing to maintain distcc. I've not been a
>> maintainer before so I will have to learn things. That's ok. One thing
>> would be a great help, I think: if someone has the cygwin cygtool'ed source
>> package for distcc in their /usr/src directory and could email it to me,
>> I'd have a running start. I'd really appreciate the effort, so, please take
>> a look folks if you've built distcc in the past.
>>
>> Email obscured:   somian08[AT]gmail[DOT]com
>>
>> Ironically, I volunteered to maintain distcc in 2007 (I tripped over my own
>> message somewhere recently) but I never followed through on that. I tended
>> to overextend myself back in those days, but I think I am a tiny bit wiser
>> now.
>>    - Soren Andersen
> 
> 
> Hi Soren,
> The proper cygwin mailing list for ITP is the cygwin-apps one.
> 
> Read documentation for packagers, look at cygport tool and join the
> cygwin-apps list.

How to Teach a Maintainer to Fish for Cygwin Package Info
=========================================================

Search the Cygwin ML inboxes for package history:

	https://inbox.sourceware.org/cygwin{-announce,-apps,-patches,}/?q=distcc

also look at the Cygwin Time Machine install info URIs:

	https://cygwin.com/install.html#unsupported

and in this case you have to go back to W 2K/NT 5/XP SP2 Cygwin 1.7.18 CTM CTHFB 
URI:

http://ctm.crouchingtigerhiddenfruitbat.org/pub/cygwin/circa/2013/06/04/121035

which is the last entry that shows distcc, where you can download

	.../x86/setup.ini

which has the entry:

@ distcc
sdesc: "A fast, free, distributed C/C++ compiler"
ldesc: "A program to distribute builds of C, C++, Objective C or
Objective C++ code across several machines on a network"
category: Devel
requires: popt
version: 2.18.3-1
install: release/distcc/distcc-2.18.3-1.tar.bz2 181098 
c5b9509fb5dfd30d2d76d3846832d771
source: release/distcc/distcc-2.18.3-1-src.tar.bz2 350105 
134a64b97ea4613bba3bf0a42fd61856

and points to the source package including distcc.cygport or g-b-s script from:

	.../x86/release/distcc/distcc-2.18.3-1-src.tar.bz2

and read up on the Cygwin Time Machine to find out how to find more recent 
setup.ini captures, contents, and tars.

As Cygwin is guided by Fedora policies, also look at Fedora 43, main, or rawhide 
specs for build variables, scripts, and patches:

	https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/distcc/blob/f43/f/distcc.spec

You can also request the packages repo maintainer to search for any history they 
can restore or recreate for the package.

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis              Calgary, Alberta, Canada

La perfection est atteinte                   Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter  not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retrancher  but when there is no more to cut
                                 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry