A few hours ago, I installed Apache 2 for Windows. About 90 minutes ago, I started a terminal session, and discovered that my home folder had been changed from path "c:\cygwin\home\{myusername}" to path "c:\Documents and Settings\{myusername}". I did not make this change consciously, but I suspect that either Apache, or a subsequent half-hearted attempt to update <?!> OpenSSH for Windows may have done so without my knowing it.
In any case, where in the configuration files of any of the three forenamed packages (bundles, applications, utilities, whatever the right name for them is) is such a thing as a home folder defined? I've already taken a peek at c:\cygwin\etc\passwd and it shows my home folder path simply as "home/{myusername}". No help there.
Inevitably, this renders quite a few of my aliases in my previously known-good .bash_aliases file pretty much useless until and unless I edit them to reflect the change in starting places. I have done so, but I hope I don't have to keep them that way for long.
Also, I have an rxvt that I use outside of XWindows, and it has all of a sudden decided to call itself xterm (the return I got from an echo $TERM command). So there's more than just default home paths involved.
Hope someone out there can help me with this, or at least point me towards some help.
I don't think it is uncommon for conflicts on Windows software installations, especially when you are installing emulators for other operating systems.
Simply fix them and move on ....
BTW, I would never run an emulator like Cygwin on Windows. It is too easy to build a linux box and run the real thing !
Yes, very helpful.
Sometimes you don't have a choice of OS, and in those times, it's good to have Cygwin.
Personally, I couldn't survive my .NET job in an all Windows environment, if it wasn't for it.
If you're running Cygwin from a Windows shortcut, make sure the "Starting folder" field in its Properies points to the right place. That's the CWD when the session starts.
I don't strictly need it, but I use it to get all my favorite software, such as bash, vim, diffing tools, git, ruby, perl, etc.
Cygwin lets you bring some of the Unix culture, tools and productivity into your Windows job, and for those of us stuck in them for whatever reason, that's infinitely valuable.
I'm humbly suggesting that you shouldn't be so quick to shrug it off.
Also, it's actually Eagle Fly Free; it's a song by Helloween spelled just like that
Well, I shrug is off because I never use emulators and don't know anyone who does and have never seen anyone use one.
If I want to run Linux, I boot in Linux and when I type on my XP laptop, I don't see any need to emulate Linux and when I am on my OS X I don't need to emulate.
Likewise, I don't emulate Windows on Linux or OS X.
That's just me. On the other hand, I am not forced to work in .NET. I would never do that
Glad you find emulators useful.
PS: You still have not convinced me to install an emulator on my XP laptop I am open... please convince me
Actually, I wouldn't use Windows + Cygwin unless I could avoid it, which is not the case at work. It's somewhat notably slow.
I find Linux + Windows on Virtualbox more productive, and that's what I use on all my personal machines (but then I don't work in .NET outside work).
It's all about having access to your favorite tools no matter what platform you're running, and also in the most comfortable way.
If you miss any Unix utilities, and can't or don't want to replace Windows, then give Cygwin a try; it's very mature, stable and complete, albeit a bit slow.
Yes, I understand but normally I don't do much on my laptop, just install software using the standard MS installer packages, use MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint and surf the net, maybe user a few other tools like CloudBerry.
I guess I am not smart enough to know what to do with a Linux emulator on XP, LOL
What can we do? We can't run the find command and change owner and groups can we, since XP does not have users and group the same as Unix and Linux systems. I don't need to VI when using XP. I don't run servers on XP, only Linux. The filesystem is completely different, isn't that right?
So, at least for me, "When in Roman do as the Romans" "When on Linux, do at Linux" and "When on XP, do XP"......
Anyway, nice try, but I am still unconvinced to install Cygwin on my XP laptop !
Any anyone has a good reason to do so, please convince me
I did one better. I trashed Cygwin and am keeping my Kubuntu Wubi install.
The one thing that's keeping me from ousting Windows XP from this box is that, having used iView Media Pro (and now M$ Expression Media) for many years, and having gotten used to all its nice little annotation-field auto-completes etc. (great for the lazy typist like YT), the lack of a directly analogous application (call it a "clone" if you want) in any of the Linuxes I'm familiar with, keeps me from doing so.
And to my mind running Wine for the sake of one application seems more than a bit trifling and wasteful of hard-disk space and resources. Call me crazy, but since even my router configuration page is Firefox-friendly (where it used to be strictly IE-friendly), I don't see much need to put a "whole other Windows" on, even in emulation, for just one proprietary app.
I've found reasonably good, and in many cases better, analogues for many of the other apps I've got installed here in Windows. And having been a Mac OS X home user (5 years, which means 2 boxes and 3 versions), I'm just more comfortable in a Linux, especially when it comes to the command line (I've coined the term "jackwhack" to describe the Windows path-delineation slash). You could argue that keeping Windows for "the sake of one app" is just as weak an argument, and you'd be right. Sometimes those of us humans who came up using proprietary OSes -- before OS X rolled out I'd used those versions which Apple calls "OS 9" and many of us users refer to as "classic Mac" or, more appropriately, "legacy MacOS" -- with iffy, shifty, heavily-patched api foundations etc, can't quite "cut the cord" altogether.
Heck, if there was something in Linux closer to Portfolio or Canto Cumulus, I'd give some serious thought to switching over, full-stop.
I am open... please convince me 