Cygwin install howto

Cygwin install howto

[Martin Langhoff]

A friend wants to work with us on a git project but is Trapped In
Windows right now. He does have a cywgin install, and I was hoping to find
a cygwin install howto. Alas, I couldn't find any (is there one and
Google doesn't know about it?).

Now, I am a bit at a loss, as I don't have access to windows. So for
you cygwin knights in the woods, a few questions...

 - What cygwin packages are needed?
 - Makefile tweaks?
 - How do I install for personal use?
 - How do I install in /usr/local?
 - Anything else I should know?

I'll be more than happy to shape the replies in a nice wiki page...
(Mercurial has one already
http://www.selenic.com/mercurial/wiki/index.cgi/WindowsInstall )

cheers,


martin

Re: Cygwin install howto

[Alex Riesen]

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.