Re: Reducing configuration headaches for cygwin-xfree

[Alexander Gottwald <alexander dot gottwald at s1999 dot tu-chemnitz dot de>]

On Wed, 3 Mar 2004, Øyvind Harboe wrote:

> CygWin-xfree86 is tricky to install and configure and this limits who
> can successfully install and use this software. (slightly resorted) 

My comments on these topics:
> 
> - cygwin1.dll side-by-side install issue solved, i.e. it should be
> possible to have a stable version of this X server installed next to a
> bleeding edge CygWin.

This is an issue that must be solved by the cygwin folks and it is unlikely
that is ever will. the shared memory sections are required for interprocess
communication. if there are two different cygwin1.dlls floating around 
(even renamed and the shared memory separated) it will break the xserver
integration into the cygwin layer. 

==> no go

> - The CygWin installer is a stumbling block itself. For those that
> *only* want an X server, a gigantic self-installing .exe file  would be
> better.

Separate installers for cygwin programs is pain. Wincvs has done it. OpenSSH
has done it. And a lot  more too. And it always leads to _huge_ problems if
you want to use them together. Most installers also install their own 
cygwin1.dll with different version and then the programs just bomb. 

> - Create an installer that has various preconfigured profiles which then
> dictates the rest of the settings. Just like xfree86 has lots of C code
> that I don't know or understand, the various configuration options and
> .bat files and scripts must be moved out of the "user domain".

There were about 5 tries to build a wrapper which handles this. But always
it was written with Delphi, VisualC++ or some other non-free compiler.

If someone build such a wrapper with plain gcc it is very likely to become
included. But not if it depends on VCL, MFC or some other non-free class
library. Also adding other dependencies to eg QT or GTK is a bad idea. 
A simple plain windows application (like cygwin setup) is preferred. 

> - ssh -X profile.  Create icon(s) on desktop for the various
> appliactions, e.g. Importantly xterm(cygwin local), xterm remote,
> Evolution remote, OpenOffice remote.

This is an option for the wrapper. Then it's not only a wrapper but also
a configtool for the whole X11 environment.

> - XDCMP. I don't know much about this, so I won't comment, but I see
> that this accounts for a lot of the traffic in this mailing list.

The most problems result in problems with disabled xdmcp on linux side.
This is already covered in the faq.

> - infrequently updated. The users targeted by this sort of installer
> never upgrade unless they absolutely have to.

A "check for updates" button in the configtool/wrapper

> - "-clipboard" enabled by default.

As long as it's not stable it will not be enabled by default.

> - multimonitor support enabled by default.

let's see

bye
	ago
-- 
 Alexander.Gottwald@s1999.tu-chemnitz.de 
 http://www.gotti.org           ICQ: 126018723
 Chemnitzer Linux-Tag 2004 - 6. und 7. März 2004
 http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/linux/tag