Re: Cygwin install howto

From: Alex Riesen <fork0@t-online.de>
Date: Sep 7, 2006, 09:07 UTC
Message-ID: <20060907090744.GA7840@steel.home>
In-Reply-To: <46a038f90609062219g340a738fq3813f1c0e07916a0@mail.gmail.com>

Martin Langhoff, Thu, Sep 07, 2006 07:19:26 +0200:

> - What cygwin packages are needed?

Perl, python, rcs (for merge), diff-utils, tcl/tk for gitk (no, X support is not needed. Tcl/Tk is not fully cygwin, if at all).

> - Makefile tweaks?

I disabled installation of repository templates. You can't use them in Windows anyway (except under specific, rarely reached conditions).

> - How do I install for personal use?
> - How do I install in /usr/local?

Installation works as usual, just remember using cygwin path in prefix. Cygpath (cygpath -w or cygpath -u) can be useful.

> - Anything else I should know?

Disable x-attribute in every repository. It never works. Case insensitivity of all Windows filesystems breaks things often. Restrict characters in filenames - no special symbols (like ?, : or *). It is painfully slow on large repos (many files). It is very slow on large files. Try to avoid interrupting (Ctrl-C) - it breaks cygwin. Ask me again if your friend has to use ActiveState Perl - it is a long story to make perl scripts in git work with that piece of sh.t.

In general - use the OS very careful, it is not designed to be useful.