On 9/1/2026 2:18 PM, Takashi Yano via Cygwin wrote:
On Tue, 1 Sep 2026 10:54:18 -0700
Arthur Schwarz via Cygwin <[email protected]> wrote:
Using cygwin, is there any way to execute a Linux executable, as in:
> ./linux.exe
If by ‘Linux executable’ you mean an ELF executable file,
the answer is no. You have to rebuild the program from
source in Cygwin.
At its heart, cygwin is a Windows *library* file, cygwin.dll, that
you link with a program compiled and linked using cygwin tools,
which run under Windows. You get a Windows executable whose
library API mimics POSIX as closely as possible under Windows.
To run true Linux executables, you need a Linux virtual machine,
such as Windows Subsystem for Linux, Oracle, or VMWare. For some
purposes qemu also works for that.
I use all three, that is, Windows, cygwin with many command line (bash)
and X windows GUI programs, and WSL, each for its own purposes. I have
also gotten good mileage from Oracle VMs and such in the past.
Regards - Eliot Moss
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