# Is libgw32c needed to build SDL apps with mingw?

**URL:** <https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/is-libgw32c-needed-to-build-sdl-apps-with-mingw/15015>\
**Category:** SDL Development\
**Created:** [December 13, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/is-libgw32c-needed-to-build-sdl-apps-with-mingw/15015 "2007-12-13T18:19:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![David\_Bruce](https://discourse.libsdl.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@David\_Bruce](https://discourse.libsdl.org/u/David_Bruce)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/is-libgw32c-needed-to-build-sdl-apps-with-mingw/15015/1 "2007-12-13T18:19:32Z")

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Hi,

I make my Windows builds of TuxMath and TuxType by cross-building on my Debian  
machine, using the Debian packages for mingw32, mingw32-runtime, and  
mingw32-binutils. Both programs use SDL, SDL\_image, SDL\_mixer, and SDL\_ttf.  
The cross-build uses libgw32c. I have recently successfully added gnu  
gettext to TuxMath on Linux, but have had trouble on Windows, as the first  
call to gettext crashes the program. I suspect the problem is that I am  
using libgw32c - the gettext maintainer says that using gettext with libw32c  
is not supported, and the mingw folks have suggested that I get rid of it, as  
the mingw32-runtime should provide the functionality I need.

So, before getting into any specifics of my build environment, etc, just a  
couple of general questions:

1. Can SDL apps be built in an MSYS-MinGW environment without libgw32c?
2. If #1 is possible, is there any reason why the same cannot be accomplished  
in a Linux-based crossbuild?

Thanks for help.–  
David Bruce

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**Author:** ![Gabriele\_Greco](https://discourse.libsdl.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Gabriele\_Greco](https://discourse.libsdl.org/u/Gabriele_Greco)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://discourse.libsdl.org/t/is-libgw32c-needed-to-build-sdl-apps-with-mingw/15015/2 "2007-12-14T08:41:51Z")

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David Bruce wrote:

> 1. Can SDL apps be built in an MSYS-MinGW environment without libgw32c?
> 2. If #1 is possible, is there any reason why the same cannot be accomplished  
> in a Linux-based crossbuild?

Mingw32 apps are pure win32 apps that use microsoft C runtime, so you  
don’t need libgw32c, I always build in linux my win32 apps and never  
used libgw32c… so the answer is positive to both your questions :)–  
Bye,  
Gabry