This is the mail archive of the cygwin-apps@cygwin.com mailing list for the Cygwin project.


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]
Other format: [Raw text]

RE: update-alternatives


> -----Original Message-----
> From: cygwin-apps-owner@cygwin.com 
> [mailto:cygwin-apps-owner@cygwin.com] On Behalf Of Charles Wilson
> Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2005 3:06 PM
> To: cygwin-apps@cygwin.com
> Subject: RFC: update-alternatives
>
> It seems there may be a need for a Debian-like 
> update-alternatives system on cygwin (see the recent thread 
> on the main list about making /bin/sh be bash instead of 
> ash).  Also, such a system would be a better approach than my 
> cobbled-together postinstall scripts for the many new 
> versions of automake (ditto libpng).
[snip]

On the symlinks issue: 

Suppose instead of the current shortcut hybrid scheme, and also instead of
copying the executables, and also instead of using NT-only hardlinks (which
IIUC aren't Unixoid enough to be "drop-ins" anyway), "Somebody" wrote a
"symlink.exe" executable that worked sort of like this:

- A suitable centralized alternatives database would be kept somewhere, with
entries of a "/bin/ls == /bin/alternatives/actual-ls.exe" nature.
- The "symlink.exe" program would be a one-pager that you copied, under the
"assumed name" of the exe you're trying to symlink.  So, as the /bin/ls.exe
executable, it would:
  - See that it was executed with the name "/bin/ls.exe"
  - Look up "/bin/ls.exe" in the database to find which real executable it
should run.
  - spawn() that real executable.

That would solve the "can't run it from a windows command line" problem,
wouldn't it?

-- 
Gary R. Van Sickle


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]