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Message-Id: <200103310736.XAA15149@prosper.leonora.org>
From: Vladimir G Ivanovic <vladimir AT acm DOT org>
Reply-To: Vladimir G Ivanovic <vladimir AT acm DOT org>
To: "Hyperion" <noog AT libero DOT it>
Cc: cygwin AT sources DOT redhat DOT com
Subject: Re: Native Windows NT POSIX capabilities 
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sat, 31 Mar 2001 02:36:08 +0200."
             <01b301c0b97b$3178cc10$e984953e AT aldebaran> 
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 23:36:32 -0800

Just to clear up some misconceptions. Microsoft entered into an
agreement with Softway Systems for them to build a Real POSIX (tm) layer
on top of the NT kernel. It worked with WinNT 4, and I know that because
I still have a copy (although it's not installed; cygwin is.)

The goal for Interix's POSIX layer was to run Linux applications, so it
was to be a complete POSIX implementation. Modulo bugs, I believe they
achieved their goal. I don't know what the relationship is between
Win2K's POSIX layer and Interix's.

AFAIK, the full source for Interix was never available, but since they
used lots of Open Source products in their product, the sources for
those were available. I could be mistaken about the Interix (not GNU,
etc.) sources, and if someone posts a URL, then we can all download it.

Softway Systems didn't appear to be doing so well, and then Microsoft
bought them out. See http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/interix for
more info. (BTW, Interix 2.2 is the same release that Softway put out
several years ago. Microsoft hasn't made much progress since.) It seems
that the IRS is an Interix customer...

--- Vladimir

Vladimir G. Ivanovic                    http://www.leonora.org/~vladimir
2770 Cowper St.                                         vladimir AT acm DOT org
Palo Alto, CA 94306-2447                                 +1 650 678 8014

"H" == Hyperion  <noog AT libero DOT it> writes:

  H> As some of you already know (well, I guess), Windows NT has native
  H> (incomplete) POSIX support. This is true since the obsolete Windows
  H> NT 3, but only in Windows NT 5, with the improvements to the file
  H> system, the POSIX support makes sense (still incomplete, but
  H> functional). They even released a package named Interix, it's the
  H> equivalent of Cygwin (shells, complilers, perl, even a X server)
  H> but runs directly on the POSIX API, instead of emulating it with
  H> the Win32 API. Obviously it doesn't support any Windows NT below 5.

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