Re: Who's using "CYGWIN=tty" and why?

[Corinna Vinschen <corinna-cygwin@cygwin.com>]

On May 10 10:29, Csaba Raduly wrote:
> On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 6:10 PM, Corinna Vinschen  wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> >
> > Chris and I are wondering how many people are using the Windows console
> > as local console window in CYGWIN=tty mode and why.
> >
> > Here's why we ask:
> >
> > We are both not sure why anybody would use it voluntarily, given that
> > it's I/O is extremly slow, compared to using a Windows console window in
> > the default CYGWIN=notty mode or, even better, mintty.  Actually, we
> > only keep the console tty mode up because it was "always there", 14
> > years or so.
> >
> > So, if you're using a console in tty mode, why are doing that?  Did you
> > ever notice that it's much slower?  Did you ever consider to switch to
> > mintty or any other terminal emulator instead?  If not, why?  Would
> > anybody really *miss* the CYGWIN=tty mode?  If so, why?  What does this
> > mode have which isn't covered by notty mode or another terminal
> > emulator?
> 
> Ever since I figured out how to configure rxvt to put the scrollbar on
> the right, I haven't used the "run bash from cmd.exe" console.
> Nowadays, for Cygwin I use mintty exclusively.
> Sometimes I run C:\cygwin17\bin\grep from the Windows prompt, but
> that's not affected by CYGWIN=tty, right?

It is affected.  If this setting is in your Windows environment, then
the first Cygwin process in a Cygwin process tree will set up a pseudo
terminal within the console, which in turn adds a layer of pipes between
the application and the console window, rather than just using the
console handles for stdio.

> Anyway, I haven't had the CYGWIN env.var set for years, and never missed it.
> 
> >
> > Please enlighten us, otherwise we will just rip out this terminal mode
> > for good.
> 
> What would that gain ? Would it speed up the rest of the code? Would
> the rest of the code become cleaner, easier to understand/maintain?

The latter.  After all, the more code and the more conditions you have
to support various settings, the more complicated the code gets and
the more complicated the maintainance gets.


Corinna

-- 
Corinna Vinschen                  Please, send mails regarding Cygwin to
Cygwin Project Co-Leader          cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Red Hat

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