Mail Archives: cygwin-developers/1998/09/22/01:49:37
Looks like this should really have been sent to cygwin32-developers so
I'm forwarding it.
-gjn
-----Forwarded message from "Andrey V. Lukyanov" <land AT long DOT yar DOT ru>-----
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 01:50:31 +0400 (EEST)
From: "Andrey V. Lukyanov" <land AT long DOT yar DOT ru>
To: noer AT cygnus DOT com
Subject: Letter to Cygnus developers
Letter to Cygnus developers
(A user's look on Cygnus)
Gentlemen,
being a simple user, I still feel myself entitled to tell you something
concerning the Cygnus architecture.
Firstly, Cygnus follows the Windows-imposed distinction between
text-mode and GUI applications. As you may know, a text-mode program
always has a console (so I cannot make it to run completely in background
if I start it from some GUI program). At the same time, a GUI program has
no access to the console from which I start it. This is so different from
UNIX X-Windows environment, where any program may have or not have a
console and in every case may write something to the xterm window from
which I have started it.
The solution would be simple: use only one type of programs, namely GUI
programs. In order to make a GUI program look like a text-mode program, we
need to make a terminal emulator, which should create 3 anonymous pipes
(for stdin, stdout and stderr) and to pass the 3 handles (via STARTUPINFO)
to the GUI program that we want to look a text-mode program. So, if our
terminal emulator is called term, we can start our UNIX-like shell (which
will be a GUI program, but without windows) as follows:
term bash
When we start other programs from bash, they receive (again via
STARTUPINFO) these 3 handles and use them for their standard input and
output.
The terminal emulator itself may be either a text-mode or a GUI program
(it is a good idea to supply both, so we will please everybody -- those
who like decorations and those who like simple black screens).
In addition, it will be much easier to make telnet-like programs -- no
need to create terminal emulation inside them, because it will be outside
them!
Secondly, Cygnus tries to preserve the old DOS habits of using CR/LF
and Ctrl-Z. From a user's point of view, it is a totally unnecessary
complication, because there are many good text editors that handle
UNIX-style text flawlessly. It is even more unnecessary in view of the
fact that people intend to have ultimately a single set of sources for
both UNIX and Cygnus.
At this point, let me remain
Very truly yours
-----End of forwarded message-----
--
Geoffrey Noer
noer AT cygnus DOT com
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