GNOME on cygwin

[Larry Hall (Cygwin X)]

On 8/4/2010 6:33 PM, Timares, Brian (HP) wrote:
> Raul Acevedo wrote:
>> My real question is what is the point of these packages, if GNOME is
>> not actually in them.  It's a bit confusing and I wasted a chunk of time
>> trying to install GNOME through Cygwin only to find out it's not possible.

Brian, you misunderstand what Gnome is, since the Cygwin distribution
contains many packages that make up Gnome.  See below for more.

<snip>

> Here is my answer to your question.  Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I'm
> right, I don't _know_ I'm right.
>
> Some nice programs that rely on pieces of Gnome are installable with
> Cygwin.  Since they require bits and pieces of Gnome those pieces get
> installed.

Yep.

<snip>

> By the way, I believe I understand Larry's answer.  He was telling you,
> essentially, that Cygwin is not a way to get Gnome installed, rather, a
> way to run specific Unix-like programs on a Windows PC.  You don't get
> gnome-terminal because no one has ported it.

That's not entirely true since, as you mentioned below, there are ports
out there (Cygwin Ports being the most comprehensive and a better source
for all-that-is-Gnome).  But, as I think is clear, there's a difference
between someone's personal collection of software ported to Cygwin (and
possibly conveniently packaged like Cygwin Ports) and the Cygwin distribution.
The biggest difference is packages in the Cygwin distribution are
maintained and cygwin.com supports them.  This cannot be said for other
sites.

cygwin.com is not a loose collection of ported software brought under one
roof by an installer.  It is a distribution and only those things in the
distribution are provided and supported.

> Understanding this, I checked the Cygwin/X FAQ.  I saw "10.1. Is there a
> list of software that has been ported to Cygwin/X?"  It struck me that
> might lead to something useful, which it does, it says "The CygGnome
> project aims to port Gnome to Cygwin/X."
> <http://cygnome.sourceforge.net/>
>
> So essentially, you were confused because the Gnome section implied you
> could get full-on Gnome.  Why is there that section?  Beats me.

The short answer is that it's there to house all-that-is-Gnome.  It just
doesn't contain everything yet.  With some luck, it will someday.  In the
meantime, there are allot of packages that make up Gnome.  Since the
distribution has some of them now, it makes sense to put them in this
category.  The same is true for KDE, Perl, etc.

-- 
Larry Hall                              http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc.                      (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
216 Dalton Rd.                          (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
> Q: Are you sure?
>> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
>>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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