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Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:01:13 -0400
From: "Larry Hall (Cygwin)" <reply-to-list-only-lh AT cygwin DOT com>
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Subject: Re: 'cp' utility bug when &lt;dest-name&gt;.exe file exist.
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On 6/11/2010 1:46 PM, Steven Collins wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 11, 2010 at 08:38, Nellis, Kenneth wrote:
>> Perhaps it's worth considering adding a CYGWIN environment
>> variable option, e.g., exe_magic, and deliberately evolve
>> the code base towards checking this setting before invoking
>> exe magic. I, for one, never run my binaries in the Windows
>> environment, so exe magic has no benefit and numerous
>> disadvantages. The new option would default to ON, and
>> individual users could change their setting to OFF as the
>> evolution progresses to their satisfaction.
>
> If any traction can be gained on actually making this change I think
> this is a very reasonable way to proceed. Based on previous comments
> it is almost certain that early attempts at making this type of change
> will introduce breakage. Having an environment variable (maybe not
> CYGWIN) that must be set to a specific value to enable the new
> behavior would provide an escape hatch when such breakage is
> encountered by allowing a person to unset the variable and getting
> back the original behavior. The one potential down-side I see to this
> idea is what cost would be incurred by having to check the state of an
> environment variable every place that currently has exe magic?

It was done before on the way to where we are now:

<http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using-cygwinenv.html#cygwinenv-removed-options>

See "(no)transparent_exe".  But there's really no point in making arguments
about how to fine-tune an implementation when the implementation itself has
been likened to a theoretical snowball spending the summer in hell.

-- 
Larry Hall                              http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc.                      (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
216 Dalton Rd.                          (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
> Q: Are you sure?
>> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
>>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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