This is just a small thought I had, which might be somewhat interesting.
How about we add support for native cross platform plugins in MCServer by supplying the source code of these plugins rather than the compiled binary form?
Apparently MSBuild (the building and compiling software used by Visual Studio) is free to use and does not require Visual Studio to be installed. Maybe the MSBuild tool can be distributed along with Windows builds of MCServer, or make it an optional prerequisite for using native plugins in MCServer. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/...x?id=40760
AFAIK most Linux distributions also come with a compiler, and if it does not, it's easy to install by using package managers and such.
MCServer can compile the files in a plugin folder itself by using the build tools and then dynamically link with the plugins, thus not requiring the developer to supply builds for each platform. For developers MCServer can also dynamically reload native plugins without restarting the server, much like scripts, for faster iterations.
MCServer could poll and grab new versions of plugins from GitHub if they're hosted there and recompile them at any time.
Just an idea, of course this does not need to be implemented. But would definitely make a fun and interesting little project.
How about we add support for native cross platform plugins in MCServer by supplying the source code of these plugins rather than the compiled binary form?
Apparently MSBuild (the building and compiling software used by Visual Studio) is free to use and does not require Visual Studio to be installed. Maybe the MSBuild tool can be distributed along with Windows builds of MCServer, or make it an optional prerequisite for using native plugins in MCServer. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/...x?id=40760
AFAIK most Linux distributions also come with a compiler, and if it does not, it's easy to install by using package managers and such.
MCServer can compile the files in a plugin folder itself by using the build tools and then dynamically link with the plugins, thus not requiring the developer to supply builds for each platform. For developers MCServer can also dynamically reload native plugins without restarting the server, much like scripts, for faster iterations.
MCServer could poll and grab new versions of plugins from GitHub if they're hosted there and recompile them at any time.
Just an idea, of course this does not need to be implemented. But would definitely make a fun and interesting little project.