newbie question....trying hard to get GSL to work under windows

["Oregon Medical Press" <office at ompress dot com>]

Hi.  After 12 hours of trying, Im writing to the list hoping to get some
clarification for this newbie on getting GSL to work under windows.

My first question is, if I do get GSL libraries to link to my C code when I
compile, will I be able to use Matlab to call the dlls that I create?  I
will have to compile them somehow using the matlab libraries, I assume.  Can
this be done easily?  I guess I will need to tell gcc where to look for the
Matlab libraries.  But if it can be done, the first thing I want to do is
just simply get gcc to compile my C code with the GSL libraries.

I have downloaded and installed MSYS and mingw32, and have downloaded the
GNUWin32 version 1.0 of GSL.  But I am stuck.  Where do I place the GSL?  I
know somewhere it says to place it in the program files path, but the GSL
documentation says that it belongs in the  /usr/local/include/gsl path,
which in the windows case I assume would be within the MSYS directory
structure.  Is that correct?  And whereever I place it, how do I tell
windows (or MSYS) that it is even there?  Do I need to put it into the
windows path statement, or some sort of path statement used by MSYS?  Does
MSYS have some sort of update function when you change directory structures?

Next, when compiling a C code, how do I link using the dlls?  Or do I link
using the libgsl.a files?  I could really use some simple, complete, easy to
follow instructions on this.  It is very confusing to me, and the manuals
that came with GSL etc are not of too much help.  I have read the one page
discussion in the GSL manual many times.  It assumes I know much more than I
do.  I am just a beginner and would really appreciate some help so that I
could use GSL.

Also, must I use the 1.0 version of GSL on windows or can I compile my own
so that I can use the latest version?  Is compiling the new version just a
matter of downloading the source files and issuing the appropriate make
commands, etc?

Must I also download the header files if I want to write a C program that
uses GSL functions?  What directory should I place them in?  How does MSYS
or windows know that they are there?

Lastly, is WSYS the only interface to mingw32?  It is funny to me, but in
the web instructions to mingw32 they say to install it and type in some test
commands.  But where are you to type them in??  Into a dos prompt?  Into the
WSYS shell?  The web page gives you no clue.  Does mingw32 have its own
shell?

You can see that I am quite confused by all of this and I could really use
some very clear instructions suitable for a newbie.  I would be most
grateful if anyone would be willing to lend a hand.

Cheers,
John