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From:	"Gary R. Van Sickle" <g DOT r DOT vansickle AT worldnet DOT att DOT net>
To:	<cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
Subject:	RE: Multiple cygwin installs
Date:	Mon, 27 Mar 2006 00:08:22 -0600
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> From: Larry Hall (Cygwin)
> Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 10:42 PM
> To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
> Subject: Re: Multiple cygwin installs
> 
> Brian Hawkins wrote:
> > Just FYI.  I found a pretty good way to manage multiple 
> cygwin installs.
> > 
> > I use the windows subst command.
> > 
> > It works like this.  Create a directory c:\cyginstalls.  
> Then beneath 
> > it create a directory for each cygwin install you want like cygwin1,
> > cygwin2 whatever.  Then use the subst command like so:
> > subst x: c:\cyginstalls\cygwin1
> > 
> > Now install cygwin to x:\.  Change the subst to 
> c:\cyginstalls\cygwin2 
> > and install again to x:\.
> > 
> > To choose what cygwin you use just subst x to the 
> appropriate folder.  
> > Kind of a poor mans symbolic link.
> 
> Why are you commandeering one thread to inject another?  If 
> you have something you want to say and it has nothing to do 
> with any previous thread, just start a new one by sending 
> email to the list.
> 
> The flaw that I see with your approach is that you're not 
> taking into account any existing mounts in the mount table.  
> Without resetting the mount table in between each 
> installation, you will very likely end up with subsequent 
> installations overwriting the first one.

I've probably said this a dozen times before, but there is in fact a proper
way to do this (There Can Be Only One-style library installs, not "swapping
versions" which is inherently wrong).  The GTK folks even use it.  It's
called "C:\Program Files\Common Files", or CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMON in
CSIDL-speak.  You make your own subdirectory, ala "C:\Program Files\Common
Files\Cygwin", and put the DLLs or what have you in there.  You make sure
that it gets reference counted, that your Cygwin apps can find it (eg put it
in the Windows PATH), and you're done.  To keep versions dealt with
correctly, you probably want to use InnoSetup or Windows Installer to deal
with that.

-- 
Gary R. Van Sickle
 


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