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Comments on the installation of Cygwin


cygwin logo x-server


Would you like a GNU penguin in front of your window ?
Then I strongly suggest you try

Cygwin: a Linux interface for Windows (including a X-server)

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another screen shot

What Is Cygwin?

Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. It consists of two parts:
  1. A DLL (cygwin1.dll) which acts as a Linux emulation layer providing substantial Linux API functionality.
  2. A collection of tools providing Linux look and feel.

What can I do with Cygwin?

One can run "linux-oriented" applications, as emacs, latex, ssh or ROOT for instance. But basic linux commands, as ls, locate, ps, can also be started from MSDOS command lines.


cygwin setup.exe
Install
Cygwin
now 		It is as easy to install as MS Office.
  1. First, install the system itself, using the setup.exe program
  2. Then you should add shortcuts to the X-server


If you really want to skip blabla, just do this
  1. Run setup.exe as administrator
    1. Cygwin Net Release Setup Program : "Next"
    2. "Leave Virus scanner Alone" + "Next"       ( This worked with McAffee and Windows XP )
    3. "Install from Internet" + "Next"
    4. Root Directory = "c:\cygwin" ( No space character in the path! ), "All users", "UNIX" + "Next"
    5. Local package directory : "C:\Program Files\Cygwin" + "Next"
    6. Internet connection : "Direct connection" + "Next"
    7. Download site : "ftp://ftp.easynet.be" ( Sometimes has problems ) or "ftp://ftp.gwdg.de"
    8. Packages : ( Any package can be added or removed afterwards ) choose at least these ones
      • "Base" : take everything
      • "Devel" : take at least
           "gcc", "gcc-g++", "make", "cvs", "doxygen", "gdb", "libXft-devel"
      • "Editors" : "emacs", "vim"
      • "Graphics" : "ghostscript" and all variants, "opengl", "jpeg"
      • "System" : "chkconfig"
      • "Text" : "gv", "less", "more"
      • "X11" : "xorg-x11" and all variants, "xwinwm"
      and "Next" : then it downloads and installs the packages
    9. "End"
    If Cygwin complains when you start it, just reboot.
    If it keeps complaining, it is sometimes enough to run again setup.exe and click all the time on "Next".
    If it still does not work, check your package integrity with the command line     cygcheck -c
  2. Add C:\cygwin\usr\X11R6\bin;c:\cygwin\bin; to the PATH variable
    ( Windows configuration panel->System->Advanced->environment variables->PATH )
  3. Replace the following file c:\cygwin\usr\X11R6\bin\startxwin.bat by this one
  4. Create a shortcut to it and use this batch file to start Cygwin with the X-server.
  5. Installation completed !
If you really like blabla, just read this

  1. Installation process

    1. First read this page : Installing Cygwin/X Which is the installation procedure (about 1 minute to be read).
    2. then, install cygwin : http://x.cygwin.com/
      cygwin setup.exe
      Install
      Cygwin
      now      		 Simply click on "install Cygwin/XFree86 now" (top-right corner or here left).
      Then setup.exe is downloaded to your favourite folder. Just run this program. It will download and install everything.
    3. Then you should choose amongst all the packages which you would like to install...
      Once the setup is completed, this is working!
      If it does not work, check your package integrity with the command linecygcheck -c. If some packages are flagged as "incomplete", just re-install them with setup.exe
    4. BUT ......

    5. Optimizing things

      1. Starting the X-Window client....
        If you click on the new link you get on your desktop (called cygwin), this won't start the X windows client.... So it is not interesting.... I suggest you to create a shortcut to the file .../cygwin/usr/X11R6/bin/startxwin.bat This will start the X Windows client. From here onwards, you can play as you like!

      2. Changing the window manager....
        There is still an annoying thing : by default, the window manager is 'twm' (the early ancestor of 'fvwm').
        You can easily move to 'fvwm' or 'window maker' or even 'kde'.
        Just edit 'startxwin.bat'. Search for the string run twm and put it as a comment: REM run twm Then, you have to add a line, corresponding to what interface (window manager, I mean) you want: for instance,

        run fvwm2 or run wmaker


        Take care that the kde package is not included in cygwin by default (but you can have it from http://kde-cygwin.sourceforge.net/ ). However using kde as window manager is heavy for the system.

      3. 3button mouse.....
        Last but one trick :
        If your mouse is not well emulated (for instance, if you have a touch pad with only 2 buttons and then you can't perform a simple 'paste', just change the command line 'start XWin' to 'start XWin -emulate3buttons' (still in 'startxwin.bat').

      4. Connecting to the world....
        By default, the X Windows client just starts 'xterm', to allows you to play on your harddisk. Of course, you can perform an ssh connection to the outside world. But use -X in order to be able to use the X-server forwarding.

        ssh -X login@hostname

        And to install a permanent SSH server on your machine, as a XP service (works even when Cygwin is OFF), try here

      5. Updating Cygwin....
        Simply run setup.exe from time to time to keep your software uptodate !

      6. Command lines to remember...
        • To check if your packages seem good : cygcheck -c
        • To get your cygwin dll version number uname -a


that's all

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