From: weiqigao AT crl DOT com ("Weiqi Gao") Subject: Re: Why is cygwin.dll? 15 Jan 1997 18:07:41 -0800 Approved: cygnus DOT gnu-win32 AT cygnus DOT com Distribution: cygnus Message-ID: <199701152310.AA15052.cygnus.gnu-win32@mail.crl.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Original-To: , "M.Carter" X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Priority: 3 X-Mailer: Microsoft Internet Mail 4.70.1155 Original-Sender: owner-gnu-win32 AT cygnus DOT com M.Carter wrote: >Can anyone explain the general purpose of cygwin.dll? Surely it would be >better to incorporate any of the facilities it provides in with the executable. >This would lead to a much simpler system. Installation and execution of binaries >would be easier. >Or is it not that simple? I know, for instance, that DJGPP requires a >DPMI. On the other hand, there are many executables that you can get over >the Internet which install directly, and work straight away. From a practical point of view, installing a dll into the system directory is preferrable to link the code in to each executable. Traditionally, it is also customary for a compiler vendor to provide dlls to deploy with the compiled applications. Look at BWCC.DLL from Borland and MSVCRT40.DLL from Microsoft. These files are not part of the operating system, but provide additional functionality so that programmers can have the job done more efficiently. The stated goal of Cygnus' GNU C for Windows NT/95 project is to make porting of UNIX programs easier. When you have thousands of UNIX programs to port, it of course make sense to make the compiler be able to handle most of the grunt work. As the Cygnus GNU C for Windows NT/95 matures, more and more programs will fall into the category of "compiles out of the box with gnu-win32". And hopefully, gnu-win32 compied programs will have many advantages over other compilers' executables. Programmers of all countries, GNUite! -- Weiqi Gao weiqigao AT crl DOT com - For help on using this list, send a message to "gnu-win32-request AT cygnus DOT com" with one line of text: "help".