Lamer questions re PC install of gcc, gcc FAQ

["Ken Nelson" <ken dot nelson at maclaren dot com>]

Hi,

(rant first, questions at bottom)

Despite the handle "programmer" in my signature, I'm having a lot of
hassle just obtaining and installing gcc on my win 2k box.

I mainly program in java, perl, asp, javascript. I use a Windows box for
development, and no, I don't have a lot of experience on UNIX boxes, but
I'm not a newbie either. I have done a lot of development using
command-line compile (mostly java) and/or execution.

So, I'm trying to pick up some C experience, and do some C compiling. I
was hoping to try the gcc on my Windows PC. Google searches have led me
to Cygnus, to you, to Xfree etc. 

At this point it looks like I'm expected to snag the whole 200 MB+
Cygnus package and then cherry-pick the gcc out of it...? Tried this,
and a lot of the include files (math.h, stdlib.h, and others) didn't get
installed. I may have a corrupt download.

*** OK you've suffered enough. Here are the questions: ***

1) Isn't there an easier way to get and install just gcc with libraries
on a windows box?
2) Why isn't this (installing just gcc on a windows box) better
explained in the FAQ? I'd be surprised if no-one else has had this
problem.

I've only been playing with this for a few hours, but still, I would
have expected this to be covered in the FAQ

Thanks for any insight.

ken

_____________________________________________________________________
Ken Nelson
programmer
Maclaren McCann Interactive
Toronto
(416) 594-6082