JP Vossen on 9 May 2009 09:55:05 -0700


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[PLUG] UnxUtils vs. Cygwin


> Date: Fri, 08 May 2009 16:51:59 -0400
> From: Fred Stluka <fred@bristle.com>
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] find the user with the most files
> 
> Any thoughts on how:
>     http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/
> compares/contrasts with:
>     http://cygwin.com

UnxUtils are native Windows *.exe files that Just Work.  No DLLs, no 
install, no config, no nothing.  Download, extract and run.  They can 
also be used with "DOS Batch Files" (I do this *extensively*), and using 
just one tool as needed is as simple as copying the exe.

Cygwin implements a Unix-layer (via DLLs) on  top of Windows.  It's 
basically the opposite of Wine.  (Humm, I wonder if Cygwin would run 
under Wine? :)  It has an extensive installer and requires non-trivial 
setup, per machine.  It's possible but tedious and non-trivial to get a 
single tool to run.  IIRC Cygwin tools can run in batch files, but they 
are more intended to run inside the Cygwin environment, which does 
include shell scripts (bash, possibly others).  That environment is 
unix-y on top of Windows.  So you get constructs like 
/drive_c/Windows/system32 though that's from memory and I might be off a 
bit.

I think Cygwin is really cool, but I personally don't use it because I 
find it not-quite-DOS and not-quite-Unix, and that bugs me.  If the 
UnxUtils did not exist, I would use it (or next).  But for me the 
UnxUtils scratch the itch more simply.

The one I didn't talk about in the recent message but did in the older 
ones are the GNU Windows ports.  IIRC they are slightly harder to 
install in that they might need a DLL or two.  But they are not as 
complex as Cygwin.  Refer to the URLS (to 2007/2008 posts) in my 
previous message for more details.  These are the official GNU ports and 
are supported, while UnxUtils basically isn't anymore AFAICT.

Good enough?
JP
----------------------------|:::======|-------------------------------
JP Vossen, CISSP            |:::======|      http://bashcookbook.com/
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