Re: Problem with -i ignore-file option in version 6.9 ptx in cygwin environment

[Eric Blake]

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According to John Cowan on 9/5/2007 8:25 PM:
> In this particular case, the subject line shows that the port in
> question is Cygwin, but this is not a Cygwin-specific issue.

I maintain the cygwin port of coreutils.  Cygwin's philosophy is a bit
different from some of the other ports to windows: when using binary
mounts, cygwin's goal is to behave like Linux.  Since ptx on Linux has the
same behavior in treating \r literally, that is why I have made no effort
for cygwin to behave any differently when you are using a cygwin binary
mount.  Put another way, the fact that you use a binary mount on cygwin is
an agreement on your part to use files that are binary-compatible with
Linux (ie no \r line endings), and tools like d2u should be used to
convert problem files on a cygwin binary mount.  On the other hand, you
can use a cygwin text mount, which will ignore the \r with no
recompilation required.  If you disagree with the cygwin philosophy, or
with the particular implementation of that philosophy as embodied by ptx,
you are better off raising the issue on the cygwin mailing lists rather
than here.

>  The Windows
> line-ending convention is now all over the place.  With file services
> like NFS, AFS, and CIFS, it's not uncommon for non-MS systems to have to
> process MS text files (and indeed vice versa; many though not all native
> MS text tools now cope with Unix-style line endings).  Line-ending bugs
> ought not to be rejected out of hand any more.
> 

This argument, on the other hand, is appropriate to bring up here, as you
are claiming that ptx's behavior should be able to (optionally) ignore \r
on all platforms.  In which case, Jim's proposed patch of adding O_TEXT is
inappropriate on two counts - it will not affect Linux (while you argued
that Linux should also have a way to ignore \r), and it will make the
default behavior of a cygwin binary mount diverge from behavior of Linux
(which goes counter to cygwin's goal of behaving like Linux when used on
binary mounts).

- --
Don't work too hard, make some time for fun as well!

Eric Blake             address@hidden
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