Oh, another VirtualBox tip is to create a shortcut to your virtual machine
on your desktop, and then assign a Windows shortcut key to that shortcut.
That way you are only one keystroke away from a Linux shell at all times.
--David
On Fri, Nov 4, 2016 at 10:32 AM, David Grayson <davidegray...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hello, Michel.
>
> MSYS2 will work well for a lot of things, but since there are lots of
> software projects out there that don't have official support for Windows or
> MSYS2, there will always be rough edges. For instance, I like to use the
> "mogrify" program to reduce the size of folders of JPEGs on Windows. The
> last time I checked, the MSYS2 version of that software does not work (see
> https://github.com/Alexpux/MINGW-packages/issues/1609 ). Issues like
> this can generally be fixed if you are developer and you spend a few hours
> looking in to it and and submitting a pull request, but if you are a
> non-developer then problems like this could be a serious hindrance.
>
> My solution is to install VirtualBox on Windows and then run a Linux
> distribution inside that. I personally like Arch Linux since it is so easy
> to get the latest versions of software. I can install utilities like
> mogrify using Arch Linux's package manager and I can operate on Windows
> files using VirtualBox's "shared folder" feature. I have it configured so
> that the Windows "C:" drive maps to "/c" in my Linux box, and my Linux user
> has permission to read and write from "/c".
>
> By the way, I didn't install VirtualBox just so I could use mogrify; there
> are lots of other reasons too (e.g. web development, Linux software
> development).
>
> --David Grayson
>
> On Thu, Nov 3, 2016 at 10:04 PM, Michel LaBarre <
> michel.labarre...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I am a newbie to cygwin/msys2 and appreciate all the effort that goes
>> into providing such elaborate facilities and all for free.
>>
>>
>>
>> I cannot believe that somebody has not asked a similar question but after
>> a few hours of looking, I have not found it
>>
>> in a form I recognised hence this email.
>>
>>
>>
>> If I missed finding the right archived posts, please re-direct me and
>> accept my apologies for wasting your inbox space.
>>
>>
>>
>> I simply want to supplement Windows with the shells and utilities common
>> to Unix/Linux for the purpose of personal
>>
>> productivity scripting.
>>
>>
>>
>> I am not trying to build packages.
>>
>>
>>
>> I am not trying to compile low level software.
>>
>>
>>
>> I do not need to port scripts to Linux or some other POSIX environment.
>>
>>
>>
>> I just want to use bash/ksh/sh/any-sh-is-better-than-CMD and all the
>> normal unix utilities - nawk, sed, grep, strings, sort etc.
>>
>> to do day-to-day stuff.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ideally I would like to use normal windows paths. e.g. (as a completely
>> artificial example)
>>
>> find d:/mystuff -name "zot*.txt" -print -exec diff {} 'c:\temp\my
>> original zot.txt' \; > foo
>>
>> One reason for being able to use windows-syntax for paths is copying the
>> path to a file from an explorer window into a command
>>
>> being composed.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ideally I would like to be able to invoke all the unix tools from either
>> a sh or CMD.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ideally I would like to be able to invoke Windows utilities from
>> whichever sh with minimal hoop-jumping to pass paths parameters. E.g.
>>
>> find d:/stuff -size +5 | while read Thing ; do zippittydoodah
>> "$(cygpath -d \"$Thing\")" ; done
>>
>> where zippittydoodah utility is from a Windows product and expects native
>> path syntax.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ideally I would like the environment to respect normal Windows facilities
>> and conventions e.g. PATHEXT for distinguishing executables
>>
>> rather than or in addition to permission bits. (I have been subscribed
>> to the cygwin mailing list for a few months to see what are
>>
>> hot issues and after cygwin's long history, zot vs zot.exe remains a
>> recurring contentious topic. My understanding is that, when using cygwin,
>>
>> if zippittydodah is an exe in the example above, I get away with not
>> putting .exe but if it were a CMD, I would need to fully specify the
>>
>> file name.)
>>
>>
>>
>> I am getting the impression that cygwin may be overkill and msys2 has
>> advantages for my objectives (e.g. default noacl on automounts).
>>
>> Both emphasize a developer (i.e. compile and package orientation)
>> audience and I am left wondering if non-development riff-raff
>>
>> would be better off with some other simpler option.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you very much for any insights.
>>
>>
>>
>> By the way, I went through the MSYS2 Wiki, all the topics in the general
>> discussion forum, and mailing lists (searching for various phrases).
>>
>> If somebody can briefly outline the options, issues, and trade-offs, it
>> might be a good article for the wiki or a general discussion topic.
>>
>>
>>
>> Michel LaBarre
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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