Update GCC version of m2w64-toolchain

[twiecki]

It seems like the gcc version installed for m2w64-toolchain on windows is quite old (version 5.3.0). More recent versions are 8.3.0. Is it possible to update them?

This is causing problems for compilation under windows for pymc and aesara: pymc-devs/pymc#4937

[twiecki]

@conda-forge/core is no one maintaining the conga-forge compiler package?

[xhochy]

No, there is nobody currently actively maintaining the m2w64 stack on conda-forge. We build all Python packages using MSVC though by default.

It would be nice if someone would step to do so but for pymc it would probably be simpler to migrate to MSVC or clang on Windows.

[mwtoews]

Is this the archived recipe https://github.com/conda-archive/conda-recipes/blob/master/msys2/m2w64-toolchain/meta.yaml ? Is it a matter of forking it to conda-forge, and updating the links, running CI checks and patching?

[twiecki]

@mwtoews Yes, I think that's what's involved. It would be a major contribution, not having up-to-date windows compilers in conda-forge is a big drawback.

[jaimergp]

I think you are looking for this "feedstock": https://github.com/conda-forge/msys2-recipes/tree/master/msys2

[mwtoews]

Note that I've posted a discussion msys2/MINGW-packages#12013 seeking volunteers to help. Recipes are best maintained by communities that develop the components.

[carlkl]

I am currently working on developing dedicated toolchains (32 and 64-bit) based on MINGW-packages scripts and patches. These should be easy to install as packages via PYPI, in the spirit of the previous mingwpy development. At the moment, however, this is being put on hold in favour of work on scipy-meson for the windows platform.