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diff --git a/winsup/doc/overview.sgml b/winsup/doc/overview.sgml index a9ce8955b..a6380ea33 100644 --- a/winsup/doc/overview.sgml +++ b/winsup/doc/overview.sgml @@ -2,32 +2,43 @@ <sect1 id="what-is-it"><title>What is it?</title> -<para>The Cygwin tools are ports of the popular GNU development -tools and utilities for Windows NT and 9x. They function through the -use of the Cygwin library which provides the UNIX system calls and -environment that these programs require.</para> - -<para>With the tools installed, programmers may write Win32 -console or GUI applications that make use of the standard Microsoft -Win32 API and/or the Cygwin API. As a result, it is possible to -easily port many significant UNIX programs without the need for -extensive changes to the source code. This includes configuring and -building most of the available GNU software (including the development -tools included with the Cygwin distributions). Even if the -compiler tools are of little to no use to you, you may have -interest in the many standard UNIX utilities. They can be used both -from the bash shell (provided) or from the command.com.</para> - +<para> +Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. It consists of a DLL +(<filename>cygwin1.dll</filename>), which acts as an emulation layer +providing substantial <ulink +URL="http://www.pasc.org/#POSIX">POSIX</ulink> (Portable Operating +System Interface) system call functionality, and a collection of tools, +which provide a Linux look and feel. The Cygwin DLL works with all x86 +versions of Windows since Windows 95. +</para> +<para> +With Cygwin installed, users have access to many standard UNIX +utilities. They can be used from one of the provided shells such +as <command>bash</command> or from the Windows Command Prompt. +Additionally, programmers may write Win32 console or GUI applications +that make use of the standard Microsoft Win32 API and/or the Cygwin API. +As a result, it is possible to easily port many significant UNIX +programs without the need for extensive changes to the source code. +This includes configuring and building most of the available GNU +software (including the development tools included with the Cygwin +distribution). +</para> </sect1> +DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-ex-win +DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-ex-unix + <sect1 id="are-free"><title>Are the Cygwin tools free software?</title> -<para>Yes. Parts are GNU software (gcc, gas, ld, etc...), parts are -covered by the standard X11 license, some of it is public domain, -some of it was written by Red Hat and placed under the GPL. None of it -is shareware. You don't have to pay anyone to use it but you should be -sure to read the copyright section of the FAQ for more information on -how the GNU General Public License may affect your use of these +<para>Yes. Parts are <ulink URL="http://www.gnu.org/">GNU</ulink> software +(<command>gcc</command>, <command>gas</command>, <command>ld</command>, etc.), +parts are covered by the standard +<ulink URL="http://www.x.org/Downloads_terms.html">X11 license</ulink>, +some of it is public domain, some of it was written by Red Hat and placed under +the <ulink URL="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GNU General Public +License</ulink> (GPL). None of it is shareware. You don't have to pay anyone to +use it but you should be sure to read the copyright section of the FAQ for more +information on how the GNU GPL may affect your use of these tools. If you intend to port a proprietary application using the Cygwin library, you may want the Cygwin proprietary-use license. For more information about the proprietary-use license, please go to @@ -41,20 +52,33 @@ questions should be sent to the project mailing list <sect1 id="brief-history"><title>A brief history of the Cygwin project</title> -<para>The first thing done was to enhance the development tools (gcc, -gdb, gas, et al) so that they could generate/interpret Win32 native -object files.</para> - -<para>The next task was to port the tools to Win NT/9x. We could have +<note> +<para> +A more complete historical look Cygwin is Geoffrey J. Noer's 1998 paper, +"Cygwin32: A Free Win32 Porting Layer for UNIX® Applications" which can be +found at the <ulink +URL="http://www.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/usenix-nt98/technical.html"> +2nd USENIX Windows NT Symposium Online Proceedings</ulink>. +</para> +</note> +<para> +Cygwin began development in 1995 at Cygnus Solutions (now part of Red Hat +Software). The first thing done was to enhance the development tools +(<command>gcc</command>, <command>gdb</command>, <command>gas</command>, +etc.) so that they could generate and interpret Win32 native +object files. +The next task was to port the tools to Win NT/9x. We could have done this by rewriting large portions of the source to work within the context of the Win32 API. But this would have meant spending a huge amount of time on each and every tool. Instead, we took a substantially different approach by writing a shared library (the Cygwin DLL) that adds the necessary UNIX-like functionality -missing from the Win32 API (fork, spawn, signals, select, sockets, -etc.). We call this new interface the Cygwin API. Once written, it -was possible to build working Win32 tools using UNIX-hosted -cross-compilers, linking against this library.</para> +missing from the Win32 API (<function>fork</function>, +<function>spawn</function>, <function>signals</function>, +<function>select</function>, <function>sockets</function>, etc.). We call this +new interface the Cygwin API. Once written, it was possible to build working +Win32 tools using UNIX-hosted cross-compilers, linking against this +library.</para> <para>From this point, we pursued the goal of producing native tools capable of rebuilding themselves under Windows 9x and NT (this is @@ -67,22 +91,19 @@ configuration changes, very few source-level changes had to be made. Running bash with the development tools and user tools in place, Windows 9x and NT look like a flavor of UNIX from the perspective of the GNU configure mechanism. Self hosting was achieved as of the beta -17.1 release.</para> +17.1 release in October 1996.</para> +<para> +The entire Cygwin toolset was available as a monolithic install. In +April 2000, the project announced a +<ulink URL="http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2000-04/msg00269.html"> +New Cygwin Net Release</ulink> which provided the native Win32 program +<command>setup.exe</command> to install and upgrade each package +separately. Since then, the Cygwin DLL and <command>setup.exe</command> +have seen continuous development. +</para> </sect1> -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-ex-unix -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-ex-win -<sect1 id="highlights"><title>Highlights of Cygwin Functionality</title> -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-intro -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-win9xnt -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-perm -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-files -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-textvsbinary -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-ansiclib -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-process -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-signals -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-sockets -DOCTOOL-INSERT-ov-hi-select -</sect1> +DOCTOOL-INSERT-highlights + </chapter> |