Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 09:26:28 -0400 (EDT)
Message-Id: <199808211326.JAA13803@delorie.com>
From: DJ Delorie <dj AT delorie DOT com>
To: s6606555 AT mercury DOT np DOT ac DOT sg
CC: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
In-reply-to: <Pine.SOL.3.91.980821193800.12752A-100000@mercury> (message from
	Goh Yong Kwang on Fri, 21 Aug 1998 19:40:32 +0800)
Subject: Re: What is Cygwin32?
Precedence: bulk


> What is cygwin32? Is it a library or what? Can it be used to develop 
> win32 applications like RSXNTDJ? Can cygwin32 replace RSXNTDJ? Is 
> cygwin32 supposed to work together with DJGPP or it is a separate 
> complete package by itself (having its own compiler, library. etc)

cygwin32 (http://www.cygnus.com/misc/gnu-win32/) is a package that
makes Windows NT look just like Unix.  It includes ports of most GNU
tools, like djgpp, but unlike djgpp it builds native Win32 executables
instead of djgpp's dos-extended executables.  The primary goal of
cygwin is to allow you to build and run your unix programs under NT
without having to port them.  Unlike DJGPP, it often gives up DOS
compatibility to achieve this goal.

Since it uses native Win32 executables, your programs have full access
to the Win32 APIs and DLLs, including graphics.  However, it's still
in beta, so it may not be as stable or fast as djgpp for
command-line-type programs.

<plug>Note that Cygnus is the official maintainer for many GNU
packages, so they're likely to get fixes out for them in less time
than anyone else.</plug>

DJ