From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from smtp-out-no.shaw.ca (smtp-out-no.shaw.ca [64.59.134.13]) by sourceware.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 1A671386189F for ; Fri, 3 Jul 2020 04:02:17 +0000 (GMT) DMARC-Filter: OpenDMARC Filter v1.3.2 sourceware.org 1A671386189F Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; dmarc=none (p=none dis=none) header.from=SystematicSw.ab.ca Authentication-Results: sourceware.org; spf=none smtp.mailfrom=brian.inglis@systematicsw.ab.ca Received: from [192.168.1.104] ([24.64.172.44]) by shaw.ca with ESMTP id rCtwjvfFo62brrCtzjXaSS; Thu, 02 Jul 2020 22:02:16 -0600 X-Authority-Analysis: v=2.3 cv=LKf9vKe9 c=1 sm=1 tr=0 a=kiZT5GMN3KAWqtYcXc+/4Q==:117 a=kiZT5GMN3KAWqtYcXc+/4Q==:17 a=IkcTkHD0fZMA:10 a=w_pzkKWiAAAA:8 a=Ed7FdIT4gc43trk-okQA:9 a=QEXdDO2ut3YA:10 a=9c8rtzwoRDUA:10 a=sRI3_1zDfAgwuvI8zelB:22 Reply-To: cygwin@cygwin.com Subject: Re: FAQ 1.5 changes (was: How to check cygwin version?) To: cygwin@cygwin.com References: <0c35113f-7b72-56d0-a032-b0cfa045f7ee@huarp.harvard.edu> <4b5a8c04-ae4f-6e2b-e22d-8e960dd305b7@SystematicSw.ab.ca> From: Brian Inglis Autocrypt: addr=Brian.Inglis@SystematicSw.ab.ca; prefer-encrypt=mutual; keydata= mDMEXopx8xYJKwYBBAHaRw8BAQdAnCK0qv/xwUCCZQoA9BHRYpstERrspfT0NkUWQVuoePa0 LkJyaWFuIEluZ2xpcyA8QnJpYW4uSW5nbGlzQFN5c3RlbWF0aWNTdy5hYi5jYT6IlgQTFggA PhYhBMM5/lbU970GBS2bZB62lxu92I8YBQJeinHzAhsDBQkJZgGABQsJCAcCBhUKCQgLAgQW AgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEB62lxu92I8Y0ioBAI8xrggNxziAVmr+Xm6nnyjoujMqWcq3oEhlYGAO WacZAQDFtdDx2koSVSoOmfaOyRTbIWSf9/Cjai29060fsmdsDLg4BF6KcfMSCisGAQQBl1UB BQEBB0Awv8kHI2PaEgViDqzbnoe8B9KMHoBZLS92HdC7ZPh8HQMBCAeIfgQYFggAJhYhBMM5 /lbU970GBS2bZB62lxu92I8YBQJeinHzAhsMBQkJZgGAAAoJEB62lxu92I8YZwUBAJw/74rF IyaSsGI7ewCdCy88Lce/kdwX7zGwid+f8NZ3AQC/ezTFFi5obXnyMxZJN464nPXiggtT9gN5 RSyTY8X+AQ== Organization: Systematic Software Message-ID: <22c8f621-6402-ca69-c7b2-eb17296596ee@SystematicSw.ab.ca> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2020 22:02:12 -0600 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; WOW64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/68.9.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <4b5a8c04-ae4f-6e2b-e22d-8e960dd305b7@SystematicSw.ab.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Language: en-CA Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-CMAE-Envelope: MS4wfMqxzF9oDCYR3/KgLKvRQ474vXFoamGpZYyOMHgl3XFo/IN3DAMa2J4jcz/PsckLUG/an9f507sj02jqSGQdkBKUu91gnoYsrNVSLkNIstsIBXiFbmWr QbUUOsgI63ZEJWG7NzDe8iezS7NfBLKUWK5/sHHoGWjs3XLGYhVIL0k8aboW/jbbQdbGJ41VIFNHDQ== X-Spam-Status: No, score=-8.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, BODY_8BITS, KAM_DMARC_STATUS, KAM_LAZY_DOMAIN_SECURITY, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_LOW, SPF_HELO_NONE, SPF_NONE, TXREP autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on server2.sourceware.org X-BeenThere: cygwin@cygwin.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: General Cygwin discussions and problem reports List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 03 Jul 2020 04:02:18 -0000 On 2020-07-02 21:38, Brian Inglis wrote: > On 2020-07-02 09:34, Norton Allen wrote: >> On 7/2/2020 1:20 AM, Brian Inglis wrote: >>> On 2020-07-01 07:36, Jeffrey Walton via Cygwin wrote: >>>> I think the documentation leaves a lot to be desired... I'm trying to >>>> tell someone what version of Cygwin I am using. >>>> There's a FAQ item at >>>> https://cygwin.com/faq/faq.html#faq.what.version. It gives this >>>> useless advice: >>>>     To find the version of the Cygwin DLL installed, you can use uname >>>>     as on Linux or cygcheck. Refer to each command's --help output and >>>>     the Cygwin User's Guide for more information. >>>> OK, let's try it: >>>> $ cygcheck -v >>>> Usage: cygcheck [-v] [-h] PROGRAM >>>>         cygcheck -c [-d] [PACKAGE] >>>>         cygcheck -s [-r] [-v] [-h] >>>>         cygcheck -k >>>>         ... >>>> OK, -v is what we need: >>>> $ cygcheck -v cygwin >>>> cygcheck: could not find 'cygwin' >>>> OK, another failure. >>>> RTFM does not work. Why the hell don't you just state how to check the >>>> god damn version? > >>> Do you think it would help if this FAQ entry were changed to read: >>> >>> 1.5. What version of Cygwin is this, anyway? >>>       To find the version of the Cygwin DLL installed, you can use any of the >>> Cygwin commands uname -a, uname -srvm, head /proc/version as on Linux, or >>> cygcheck -V. Refer to each command's --help output or the Cygwin User's Guide >>> for more information. >>> >>> and please make any further comments, feedback, or suggestions you think would >>> help with this entry. > >> I think what is missing in all these suggestions is a clear statement that for >> Cygwin's purposes, the cygwin DLL is considered to be the 'kernel', so looking >> for the 'kernel release' gives you the DLL version. I think that leap is totally >> non-obvious. > > Okay folks, would this approach make the situation and operations clearer: > > 1.5. What version of Cygwin is this, anyway? > > As the Cygwin DLL takes the place of a Unix kernel, to find the version of the > Cygwin DLL installed, you can use any of the Unix compatible commands: uname -a; > uname -srvm; head /proc/version; or the Cygwin command: cygcheck -V. Refer to > each command's --help output or the Cygwin User's Guide for more information. > > and again please feel free to make any further comments, feedback, or > suggestions you think would help with this entry. Added a bit more clarification to 2nd paragraph 2nd sentence, and email markup for the HTML rendering: "1.5. What version of Cygwin is this, anyway? As the Cygwin DLL takes the place of a Unix kernel, to find the version of the Cygwin DLL installed, you can use any of the Unix compatible commands: *uname -a*; *uname -srvm*; *head /proc/version*; or the Cygwin command: *cygcheck -V*. Refer to each command's `--help` output or the _Cygwin User's Guide_ for more information. If you are looking for the version number for the whole Cygwin release, there is none. Each package in the Cygwin release has its own version, and the `cygwin` package containing the Cygwin DLL and Cygwin system specific utilities is just another (but very important!) package. The packages in Cygwin are continually improving, thanks to the efforts of net volunteers who maintain the Cygwin binary ports. Each package has its own version numbers and its own release process." Please feel free to make any further comments, feedback, or suggestions you think would help with this entry. -- Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis, Calgary, Alberta, Canada This email may be disturbing to some readers as it contains too much technical detail. Reader discretion is advised. [Data in IEC units and prefixes, physical quantities in SI.]