Subject: Re: file descriptors opened as text files
From: "Larry Hall (RFK Partners, Inc)" <[email-masked]>
To: Jean Delvare <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 12:20:40 -0500

At 12:21 PM 2/15/2001, Jean Delvare wrote:

> > Its not a Cygwin invention.  Its a MS one.  Check out the documentation
> > for open()/_open() on the MSDN.  They use the _O_BINARY flag.  Don't get me
> > wrong.  I hate text mode in all its forms.  Perhaps Cygwin could've forgone
> > its use here.  Maybe not.  However, doing so here follows the MS lead and
> > wasn't a Cygwin concoction.
>I don't use MS development softwares. That's not the point here. Cygwin
>intends to provide an environment for fast port from Unix to Windows, so
>what it must look and behave like is Unix, not Windows. And the fast if,
>O_BINARY and O_TEXT are not defined on Unix systems. Moreover, a file
>descriptor is always working in binary mode on Unix. Thus, the choice
>Cygwin made here will necessary cause problems to anyone porting a
>software using file descriptors, and there must (and will) be thousands,
>for sure.
>
>I strongly believe that the correct behavior would be to consider any file
>descriptor as binary. People needing higher lever control are supposed to
>use handles anyway, not descriptors.

Feel free to start another binary vs text file debate/war but for the sanity
of all on this list that have lived through it many times before here, take 
it up on another list.

Thanks,

Larry Hall                              [email-masked]
RFK Partners, Inc.                      http://www.rfk.com
118 Washington Street                   (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
Holliston, MA 01746                     (508) 893-9889 - FAX

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