Cgywin: UNIX under Windows
 

I'm not a Linux-head but I recently downloaded Cygwin. It's a UNIX port that runs directly under Windows and doesn't require any special disk partitioning, dual booting, etc.

It may be an effective way for people to try out Linux before they commit time and energy into repartitioning their PC.

Cygwin is free from www.cygwin.com. You can run KDE (3.x beta) as well: http://kde-cygwin.sourceforge.net/

I followed the install docs for Cygwin and KDE-Cygwin and they installed painlessly and worked on first run. It's running under Windows XP Pro with NTFS volumes.

Check it out.
http://www.brodynet.com/images/tfp/kde-cygwin.jpg

I've been a big fan of cygwin for some time, it makes using windows that little bit easier. Cant say I've tried the kde port though

Actually Cygwin is a Linux emulator for Windows.

It's not a port and it most certainly isn't UNIX.

Cool stuff, though.

if you just wanna "run linux on windows", get vmware or virtualpc... this way you can get a real distro running with all the bells and whistles :)

I know that but alot of the time the apps have to be "ported" to run on windows using cygwin

VMWare is a good product - I use it for testing Windows setups but I haven't gotten around to installing Linux with it.

Tha advantage of cygwin is the price - FREE! VMWare is $250.

I think that cygwin is a POSIX environment for win32, not a linux emulator.

and it really helps a unix user cope with windows.

cygwin just makes most of the linux/posix api available to the coders, so we can recompile the app to run under windows using *nix features. personally i prefer to not use it and just make the code native, since it adds another dependancy to the code, and its not as stable as it could be, plus since theres some significant differences between the way each OS handles certain things, you end up with a mismatch and not getting the best of either.

vmware and cygwin are apples and oranges, one is a set of libraries and *nix tools ported to win32, and the other is a virtual machine.

cygwin is not a linux emulator.

i love cygwin. allows me to rename/move files on the command line ( in while/do/done loops ). scp on the command line on pc's too. grep, awk...need i say more.

cygwin is a must for any *nix user, using a windows desktop.