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Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2005 07:48:24 -0800
From: Brian Dessent <brian AT dessent DOT net>
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Subject: mingw path/mount handling code (Was: Re: Practical method for automatic   Cygwin install?)
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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

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