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mingw path/mount handling code (Was: Re: Practical method for automatic Cygwin install?)
- From: Brian Dessent <brian at dessent dot net>
- To: cygwin at cygwin dot com
- Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2005 07:48:24 -0800
- Subject: mingw path/mount handling code (Was: Re: Practical method for automatic Cygwin install?)
- References: <20051123035342.9E89913C1A1@cgf.cx> <20051123192106.GA757@trixie.casa.cgf.cx> <Pine.GSO.4.63.0511231611030.14415@slinky.cs.nyu.edu> <4384DF7D.142487C5@dessent.net> <20051123213551.GA2952@trixie.casa.cgf.cx>
- Reply-to: cygwin at cygwin dot com
Christopher Faylor wrote:
> >FWIW, this idea of creating a mingw "libcygpath" really appeals to me
> >and it's been an idea I've been meaning to look at for a while. It
> >would be a library that knows how to read the mount table, and do basic
> >path conversions, without depending on cygwin1.dll. Then cygpath and
> >setup.exe could both statically link to this library, and it would be
> >available to other users as well.
>
> FWIW, Robert Collins and I talked about doing this years ago but it just
> suffered due to SHTDI. I think that path.cc in the utils directory
> should be a pretty good start towards a library for reading the mount
> table. It is what is used by strace.cc and cygcheck.cc.
I've been thinking about this a little more.
The way I see it, in a perfect world, this library would be BSD/MIT
licensed, or at the very least LGPL, so that "foreign" programs by 3PPs
could use it unencumbered, so that they can function better with Cygwin.
However, winsup/utils/path.cc is under the Cygwin license. I don't
suppose there is any chance of getting Redhet to relicense parts of the
utils directory? It seems small enough that it could be reimplemented
without a lot of hassle, but it's still extra work.
Has this topic already been discussed, or do I need to do more due
diligence on this idea? I am considering putting some time into this
but I think GPL is not the right way to go. Would the approximate path
be a) create, test, and debug this free-standing libcygpath
(libcygmount?), b) submit patches to cygpath and setup to use this
library?
Brian
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