How/Where do I get an older version of Cygwin?

[Peter A. Castro]

On Fri, 27 Aug 2010, Andy Koppe wrote:

Greetings, Andy,

> On 26 August 2010 20:24, Larry Hall (Cygwin) wrote:
>> On 8/26/2010 3:03 PM, Blaine Miller wrote:
>>> PS... I read in the archives the following quote...
>>>
>>> Rerun 'setup.exe' and pick "Prev".
>>>
>>> There is no such option that I can find...
>>
>> Look at the page where you select packages, just above the list of
>> packages and to the right, next to the "Category" button. Â "Cur" is
>> the default selected radio button. Â "Prev" is one of the other
>> options.
>
> I'd recommend against using the "Prev" button. It gives you a rather
> random collection of old packages, where some are years older than the
> current one and others just a couple of weeks. There's no guarantee
> that those disparate versions will actually work together properly, in
> fact, it's very likely that things will break. It sure doesn't get
> tested.
>
> Going back to the previous version of a particular package is useful
> when there's a regression in the latest version, but doing the same
> across the whole distro, not so much. Cygwin 1.5 and setup-legacy.exe
> is the way to go if you want something old and unsupported that
> actually works.
>
> Question: would anyone miss the "Prev" button if it were to disappear?

Yes, I, for one, would miss it.  While it may give a "random collection
of old packages", for packages that are actively maintained it does give
you the ability to revert to the previous version that is/was working
when the "current" version either does not do what you want or, in some
cases, breaks what you already had working.  For that reason alone, the
"Prev" has value.

While I can hear the whispers of "report it as a bug" in cases of
breakage, for those of us who use these tools on a daily bases (whether
test or "production" (used loosely)), waiting for community support to
"fix it" would likely take too long and thus not be viable.  This is
probably why people get a specific set of packages that work well for
them and just stick with them for a while rather than upgrading.

This is one of the main reasons I create the Cygwin Time Machine, btw.  I
have, on several occasions upgraded older cygwin installations to latest
only to have them "change" in ways unanticipated/unwanted and then had to
wipe and install the older, working, versions.  But the older packages
get purged from the mirrors pretty quickly and that is a problem when you
need to install older versions.  This is why the CTW exists.

For people who are proactive and keep their installations up to date, the
"Prev" button can be a life-saver in cases of breakage.  So, please do
keep the "Prev" button.

Thanks!

> Andy

-- 
Peter A. Castro <doctor@fruitbat.org> or <Peter.Castro@oracle.com>
 	"Cats are just autistic Dogs" -- Dr. Tony Attwood
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