MinGW Installation checklist (win32)

I've decided to uninstall MinGW and do a manual installation this time for a win32 machine. My first time doing it this way. I need your help determining if I'm missing anything.

Downloaded and installed the following packages:

Code:

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gcc-core-3.4.2
gcc-g++-3.4.2
w32api-3.6
binutils-2.15.91-20040904-1
mingw-runtime-3.9
mingw-utils-0.3
mingw32-make-3.80.0-3

and also,

gdb-5.2.1-1

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The above is pretty much a standard installation, correct? Anything I should add?

Where I do have doubts is:

Do I need MSYS? I'm not sure I can understand what exactly is MSYS. This is probably an indicator I don't need it...

Planning on using Code::Blocks with this. However, if I want to compile from the command prompt, are \lib, \include, and \bin, the only I need to add to my PATH environment var?

What is the difference between c++ and g++?

Quote:

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Do I need MSYS? I'm not sure I can understand what exactly is MSYS.

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MSYS provides an environment in which configure scripts can be run. If you arent going to run any configure scripts, you dont need MSYS.

Hmm... I'm not sure I understood. Configuration scripts as in makefile configuration scripts?

Quote:

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Configuration scripts as in makefile configuration scripts?

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Pretty much yes. You can read What is MSYS?.

Yes, I have before. But I'm afraid I couldn't make much of it. The language used baffles me.

The understanding (still limited) I have of a makefile is that it carries with it instructions on how to compile and link a project. An associated executable (make.exe) that knows how to parse this file, can then run the script and build my project. This is useful when working in a team or when ditributing projects.

Why I want a shell to do this is beyond me.

There is a later version of 'win32api' (w32api-3.7.tar.gz) available. Looks like there's a new release of mingw32-make, too (mingw32-make-3.81-1.tar.gz). See www.mingw.org for details.

You shouldn't have to amend your path environment variables if you use code::blocks with mingw or any other decent ide; just configure the ide to point to the relevant directories(settings menu --> compiler and debugger).

If you want an stl implementation for mingw that supports wide characters then you might find stlport of some interest(BTW, building it is a lot simpler with msys than without it).