5 ms·

Why not just use Cygwin?

seiferteric 9y ago
I mostly agree. I have used cygwin for years when forced to use windows and have had mostly a great experience. In the article she mentions launching windows programs from the shell as if it's a great new thing... you could always do that from cygwin.... The only thing this gets you (i think) is not having to recompile programs.
- damieng 9y ago
  You get much more than that - you are installing native binaries direct from apt-get. No waiting for ports, patches, recompilation or people trying to get the latest version working on cygwin. It pulls binaries direct from Ubuntu as if you were on a Linux box and just runs them.
interlocutor 9y ago
Cygwin cannot run Linux executables. Cygwin .exe's are specifically compiled for Windows.
- seiferteric 9y ago
  Cygwin is essentially a distribution, so like any distribution their packages are recompiled for that specific distribution and available in their repo. It's not too often you download a random binary for Linux and run it, but that case I concede.
  - saghm 9y ago
    > It's not too often you download a random binary for Linux and run it Mostly because you don't have to due to package managers. Assuming there are no unsatisfied dependencies, it's totally possible to share binaries between Linux distros.
  - paulie_a 9y ago
    While I think cygwin has a fairly poor ux I don't mean to be dismissive of the undertaking. On the flip side the concept of " curl http://random_unknown_thing.sh| http://random_unknown_thing.sh| sudo sh" has become increasingly normal and unsettling
  - notgood 9y ago
    Very often; every ruby/node/etc library that has at least one dependency that needs compilation ("native-extensions") can now run on Windows 10 without issues.
    - seiferteric 9y ago
      Huh? If it was compiling the native extension, then it would work in cygwin also?
      - notgood 9y ago
        Just as an exercise; try to compile latest Node on cygwin and you will be welcomed by a ton of errors. Then try to compile it on linux subsystem (no issues arise)
neves 9y ago
because there's no apt-get. Installing software is a pain.
- flukus 9y ago
  apt-cyg: https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg
  - neves 9y ago
    The funny of it is that I must install it from source. It isn't a cygwin package.
  - hacking_again 9y ago
    > Because I got dragged into a time-consuming and unpleasant law suit involving apt-cyg, I am very unlikely to put more time and effort into it anytime soon, even though I won. I write open source software because I enjoy it, not so I can get involved in meaningless conflicts. https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg/blob/master/status.md https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg/blob/master/status... I looked but I couldn't find any details.

I mostly agree. I have used cygwin for years when forced to use windows and have had mostly a great experience. In the article she mentions launching windows programs from the shell as if it's a great new thing... you could always do that from cygwin.... The only thing this gets you (i think) is not having to recompile programs.

damieng 9y ago
You get much more than that - you are installing native binaries direct from apt-get. No waiting for ports, patches, recompilation or people trying to get the latest version working on cygwin. It pulls binaries direct from Ubuntu as if you were on a Linux box and just runs them.

interlocutor 9y ago

Cygwin cannot run Linux executables. Cygwin .exe's are specifically compiled for Windows.

seiferteric 9y ago
Cygwin is essentially a distribution, so like any distribution their packages are recompiled for that specific distribution and available in their repo. It's not too often you download a random binary for Linux and run it, but that case I concede.
- saghm 9y ago
  > It's not too often you download a random binary for Linux and run it Mostly because you don't have to due to package managers. Assuming there are no unsatisfied dependencies, it's totally possible to share binaries between Linux distros.
- paulie_a 9y ago
  While I think cygwin has a fairly poor ux I don't mean to be dismissive of the undertaking. On the flip side the concept of " curl http://random_unknown_thing.sh| http://random_unknown_thing.sh| sudo sh" has become increasingly normal and unsettling
- notgood 9y ago
  Very often; every ruby/node/etc library that has at least one dependency that needs compilation ("native-extensions") can now run on Windows 10 without issues.
  - seiferteric 9y ago
    Huh? If it was compiling the native extension, then it would work in cygwin also?
    - notgood 9y ago
      Just as an exercise; try to compile latest Node on cygwin and you will be welcomed by a ton of errors. Then try to compile it on linux subsystem (no issues arise)

neves 9y ago

because there's no apt-get. Installing software is a pain.

flukus 9y ago
apt-cyg: https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg
- neves 9y ago
  The funny of it is that I must install it from source. It isn't a cygwin package.
- hacking_again 9y ago
  > Because I got dragged into a time-consuming and unpleasant law suit involving apt-cyg, I am very unlikely to put more time and effort into it anytime soon, even though I won. I write open source software because I enjoy it, not so I can get involved in meaningless conflicts. https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg/blob/master/status.md https://github.com/transcode-open/apt-cyg/blob/master/status... I looked but I couldn't find any details.