diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'winsup/doc/faq-what.xml')
| -rw-r--r-- | winsup/doc/faq-what.xml | 156 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 156 deletions
diff --git a/winsup/doc/faq-what.xml b/winsup/doc/faq-what.xml deleted file mode 100644 index 787062c7f..000000000 --- a/winsup/doc/faq-what.xml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,156 +0,0 @@ -<!-- faq-what.xml --> -<qandaentry id="faq.what"> -<question><para>What is it?</para></question> -<answer> - -<para>The Cygwin tools are ports of the popular GNU development tools for -Microsoft Windows. They run thanks to the Cygwin library which -provides the POSIX system calls and environment these programs expect. -</para> -<para>With these tools installed, it is possible to write Windows console -or GUI applications that make use of significant parts of the POSIX API. -As a result, it is possible to easily port many 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 packages -included with the Cygwin development tools themselves) as well as lots -of BSD tools and packages (including OpenSSH). Even if -the development tools are of little to no use to you, you may have -interest in the many standard POSIX utilities provided with the package. -They can be used from one of the provided Unix shells like bash, tcsh or zsh, -as well as from the standard Windows command shell if you have to for some -sad reason. -</para> -</answer></qandaentry> - -<qandaentry id="faq.what.supported"> -<question><para>What versions of Windows are supported?</para></question> -<answer> - -<para>Cygwin can be expected to run on all modern 32 bit versions of -Windows, except Windows CE and Windows 95/98/Me. This includes, as of the -time of writing this, Windows NT4 SP4 or later, Windows 2000, Windows XP, -Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, as well -as the WOW64 32 bit environment on released 64 bit versions of Windows -(XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/2008 R2). -As far as we know no one is working on a native 64 bit version of Cygwin. -Since Cygwin is a community-supported free software project, patches to -provide support for other versions would be thoughtfully considered. -Paid support contracts or enhancements are available through Red Hat. For -information about getting a Red Hat support contract, see -<ulink url="http://cygwin.com/license.html" />. -</para> -<para>Keep in mind that Cygwin can only do as much as the underlying OS -supports. Because of this, Cygwin will behave differently, and -exhibit different limitations, on the various versions of Windows. -</para> -</answer></qandaentry> - -<qandaentry id="faq.what.where"> -<question><para>Where can I get it?</para></question> -<answer> - -<para>The home page for the Cygwin project is <ulink url="http://cygwin.com/">http://cygwin.com/</ulink>. -There you should find everything you need for Cygwin, including links -for download and setup, a current list of mirror sites, a User's -Guide, an API Reference, mailing lists and archives, and additional -ported software. -</para> -<para>You can find documentation for the individual GNU tools typically -as man pages or info pages as part of the Cygwin net distribution. -Additionally you can get the latest docs at -<ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/manual/" />. (You should read GNU manuals from a -local mirror. Check <ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/server/list-mirrors.html" /> -for a list of them.) -</para> -</answer></qandaentry> - -<qandaentry id="faq.what.free"> -<question><para>Is it free software?</para></question> -<answer> - -<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 (or the former Cygnus Solutions) 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 tools. -</para> -<para>In particular, if you intend to port a proprietary (non-GPL'd) -application using Cygwin, you will need the proprietary-use license -for the Cygwin library. This is available for purchase from Red Hat; -please visit <ulink url="http://cygwin.com/license.html" /> for more -information. All other questions should be sent to the public project -mailing list cygwin@cygwin.com. -</para> -<para>Note that when we say "free" we mean freedom, not price. The goal of -such freedom is that the people who use a given piece of software -should be able to change it to fit their needs, learn from it, share -it with their friends, etc. The Cygwin license allows you those -freedoms, so it is free software. -</para> -</answer></qandaentry> - -<qandaentry id="faq.what.version"> -<question><para>What version of Cygwin <emphasis>is</emphasis> this, anyway?</para></question> -<answer> - -<para>To find the version of the Cygwin DLL installed, you can use -<filename>uname</filename> as on Linux or <filename>cygcheck</filename>. Refer to each command's -<literal>--help</literal> output and the <ulink url='http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/'>Cygwin User's Guide</ulink> for more information. -</para> -<para>If you are looking for the version number for the whole Cygwin -release, there is none. Each package in the Cygwin release has its own -version. The packages in Cygwin are continually improving, thanks to -the efforts of net volunteers who maintain the Cygwin binary ports. -Each package has its own version numbers and its own release process. -</para> -<para>So, how do you get the most up-to-date version of Cygwin? Easy. Just -download the Cygwin Setup program from -<ulink url='http://cygwin.com/setup.exe'>http://cygwin.com/setup.exe</ulink>. This program will handle the task -of updating the packages on your system to the latest version. For -more information about using Cygwin's <filename>setup.exe</filename>, see -<ulink url='http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/setup-net.html'>Setting Up Cygwin</ulink> -in the Cygwin User's Guide. -</para></answer></qandaentry> - -<qandaentry id="faq.what.who"> -<question><para>Who's behind the project?</para></question> -<answer> - -<para><emphasis role='bold'>(Please note that if you have cygwin-specific -questions, all of these people will appreciate it if you use the cygwin -mailing lists rather than sending personal email.)</emphasis> -</para> -<para> -Christopher Faylor (cgf) is one of the project leads. Chris works for -Netapp but all of his Cygwin activities occur on his own time. He is -most notably responsible for the support of signal handling and -fork/exec in Cygwin. He also administer's the site which hosts the -cygwin web site and release. -</para> -<para> -Corinna Vinschen (corinna) is the other project lead. Corinna is a -senior Red Hat engineer. Corinna is responsible for such important -subsystems as security and networking and has recently added support to -Cygwin for wide characters, increased path length, IPv6, advisory -file locking and more. -</para> -<para> -Yaakov Selkowitz is the Cygwin/X coordinator. Jon Turney serves on the -Cygwin/X team as a developer. -</para> -<para> -The Cygwin setup project is currently maintained by a group of people, most notably, Brian Dessent (brian) and Dave Korn (dave.korn). -</para> -<para>Please note that all of us working on Cygwin try to -be as responsive as possible and deal with patches and questions as we -get them, but realistically we don't have time to answer all of the -email that is sent to the main mailing list. Making Net releases of the -Win32 tools and helping people on the Net out is not our primary job -function, so some email will have to go unanswered. -</para> -<para>Many thanks to everyone using the tools for their many contributions in -the form of advice, bug reports, and code fixes. Keep them coming! -</para></answer></qandaentry> - |