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Re: 'cp' utility bug when <dest-name>.exe file exist.


On 6/11/2010 1:46 PM, Steven Collins wrote:
On Fri, Jun 11, 2010 at 08:38, Nellis, Kenneth wrote:
Perhaps it's worth considering adding a CYGWIN environment
variable option, e.g., exe_magic, and deliberately evolve
the code base towards checking this setting before invoking
exe magic. I, for one, never run my binaries in the Windows
environment, so exe magic has no benefit and numerous
disadvantages. The new option would default to ON, and
individual users could change their setting to OFF as the
evolution progresses to their satisfaction.

If any traction can be gained on actually making this change I think this is a very reasonable way to proceed. Based on previous comments it is almost certain that early attempts at making this type of change will introduce breakage. Having an environment variable (maybe not CYGWIN) that must be set to a specific value to enable the new behavior would provide an escape hatch when such breakage is encountered by allowing a person to unset the variable and getting back the original behavior. The one potential down-side I see to this idea is what cost would be incurred by having to check the state of an environment variable every place that currently has exe magic?

It was done before on the way to where we are now:


<http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using-cygwinenv.html#cygwinenv-removed-options>

See "(no)transparent_exe".  But there's really no point in making arguments
about how to fine-tune an implementation when the implementation itself has
been likened to a theoretical snowball spending the summer in hell.

--
Larry Hall                              http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc.                      (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
216 Dalton Rd.                          (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
Q: Are you sure?
A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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