X-Recipient: archive-cygwin AT delorie DOT com X-SWARE-Spam-Status: No, hits=-1.5 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,SARE_MSGID_LONG40,SPF_PASS X-Spam-Check-By: sourceware.org MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <31b7d2791001071117le9fe53y9634a15a6212720b@mail.gmail.com> References: <53b627ea1001070831t71b6fc8fy62383b79b3e8fd99 AT mail DOT gmail DOT com> <31b7d2791001071117le9fe53y9634a15a6212720b AT mail DOT gmail DOT com> Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 08:24:13 +0530 Message-ID: <53b627ea1001071854s3363ee4ep5c82506828935ef@mail.gmail.com> Subject: Re: The need for cygwin From: Karthik Balaguru To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-IsSubscribed: yes Mailing-List: contact cygwin-help AT cygwin DOT com; run by ezmlm Precedence: bulk List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: , Sender: cygwin-owner AT cygwin DOT com Mail-Followup-To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com Delivered-To: mailing list cygwin AT cygwin DOT com On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 12:47 AM, DePriest, Jason R. wrote: > On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 10:31 AM, Karthik Balaguru <> wrote: >> Hi, >> I am eager to know the need for cygwin if emulators like =A0VirtualBox, >> Bochs IA-32 Emulator , QEMU, Vmware, Hyper-V, XenServer are able to >> provide the linux in windows ? >> How is cygwin different from those and what are the advantages >> provided by cygwin ? >> What are the advantages provided by cygwin ? > > Cygwin is not an virtual machine, it is just an API emulator and some > provided tools to use it. > > From http://cygwin.com/ > > What Is Cygwin? > Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. It consists of two parts: > # A DLL (cygwin1.dll) which acts as a Linux API emulation layer > providing substantial Linux API functionality. > # A collection of tools which provide Linux look and feel. > > What Isn't Cygwin? > # Cygwin is not a way to run native linux apps on Windows. You have to > rebuild your application from source if you want it to run on Windows. > # Cygwin is not a way to magically make native Windows apps aware of > UNIX =AE functionality, like signals, ptys, etc. Again, you need to > build your apps from source if you want to take advantage of Cygwin > functionality. > > Other people said it best, you can use cygwin natively on Windows > without the need to install a driver, without the need to be an > administrator to install it. > > Really, if you don't know how cygwin is useful, that means you > probably don't need it. =A0If virtual machines do what you want them to > do, there is no need to try using cygwin. > > Personally, I started using cygwin years ago when I needed an SSH > server that was free and would run on Windows. > Agreed ! OpenSSH for Windows is a free package that installs a minimal OpenSSH server and client and provides full SSH/SCP/SFTP support. > Since then, I've been able to use it to compile programs written for > Linux on my Windows system and run them natively on Windows. =A0Also, > bash is 450% better than command.com and at least 275% better than > cmd.exe. > Great ! Karthik Balaguru -- Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/ Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple