delorie.com/archives/browse.cgi   search  
Mail Archives: cygwin/2005/12/09/10:48:38

X-Spam-Check-By: sourceware.org
Message-ID: <4399A748.CA4107C7@dessent.net>
Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2005 07:48:24 -0800
From: Brian Dessent <brian AT dessent DOT net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: mingw path/mount handling code (Was: Re: Practical method for automatic Cygwin install?)
References: <20051123035342 DOT 9E89913C1A1 AT cgf DOT cx> <20051123192106 DOT GA757 AT trixie DOT casa DOT cgf DOT cx> <Pine DOT GSO DOT 4 DOT 63 DOT 0511231611030 DOT 14415 AT slinky DOT cs DOT nyu DOT edu> <4384DF7D DOT 142487C5 AT dessent DOT net> <20051123213551 DOT GA2952 AT trixie DOT casa DOT cgf DOT cx>
X-IsSubscribed: yes
Reply-To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Mailing-List: contact cygwin-help AT cygwin DOT com; run by ezmlm
List-Subscribe: <mailto:cygwin-subscribe AT cygwin DOT com>
List-Archive: <http://sourceware.org/ml/cygwin/>
List-Post: <mailto:cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
List-Help: <mailto:cygwin-help AT cygwin DOT com>, <http://sourceware.org/ml/#faqs>
Sender: cygwin-owner AT cygwin DOT com
Mail-Followup-To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Delivered-To: mailing list cygwin AT cygwin DOT com

Christopher Faylor wrote:

> >FWIW, this idea of creating a mingw "libcygpath" really appeals to me
> >and it's been an idea I've been meaning to look at for a while.  It
> >would be a library that knows how to read the mount table, and do basic
> >path conversions, without depending on cygwin1.dll.  Then cygpath and
> >setup.exe could both statically link to this library, and it would be
> >available to other users as well.
> 
> FWIW, Robert Collins and I talked about doing this years ago but it just
> suffered due to SHTDI.  I think that path.cc in the utils directory
> should be a pretty good start towards a library for reading the mount
> table.  It is what is used by strace.cc and cygcheck.cc.

I've been thinking about this a little more.

The way I see it, in a perfect world, this library would be BSD/MIT
licensed, or at the very least LGPL, so that "foreign" programs by 3PPs
could use it unencumbered, so that they can function better with Cygwin.

However, winsup/utils/path.cc is under the Cygwin license.  I don't
suppose there is any chance of getting Redhet to relicense parts of the
utils directory?  It seems small enough that it could be reimplemented
without a lot of hassle, but it's still extra work.

Has this topic already been discussed, or do I need to do more due
diligence on this idea?  I am considering putting some time into this
but I think GPL is not the right way to go.  Would the approximate path
be a) create, test, and debug this free-standing libcygpath
(libcygmount?), b) submit patches to cygpath and setup to use this
library?

Brian

--
Unsubscribe info:      http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
Problem reports:       http://cygwin.com/problems.html
Documentation:         http://cygwin.com/docs.html
FAQ:                   http://cygwin.com/faq/

- Raw text -


  webmaster     delorie software   privacy  
  Copyright © 2019   by DJ Delorie     Updated Jul 2019