Cygwin vs Linux

Overview

Cygwin

Stacks27

Followers27

Votes0

GitHub Stars23

Forks7

Linux

Stacks3.1K

Followers2.5K

Votes46

Cygwin vs Linux: What are the differences?

Cygwin and Linux are both operating systems that provide an environment for running and executing commands. While they serve a similar purpose, there are key differences between the two.

Code Compatibility: Cygwin is designed to provide a compatibility layer between Windows and Linux, allowing Windows users to run Linux tools and applications. On the other hand, Linux is an independent operating system that is native to various hardware architectures.
Kernel: One of the major differences between Cygwin and Linux is the underlying kernel. Linux uses its own kernel, known as the Linux kernel, which is open source and highly customizable. Cygwin, on the other hand, is not a standalone OS but rather a collection of tools and libraries that allow Windows to emulate a Unix-like environment.
Performance: Due to its design as a compatibility layer, Cygwin can sometimes have performance issues compared to Linux. While Cygwin strives to provide a Unix-like experience on Windows, it may not fully match the performance and efficiency of a native Linux installation.
Package Manager: Another notable difference between Cygwin and Linux is the package management system. Linux distributions typically have their own package managers (e.g., apt, yum, or dnf) that provide easy installation, update, and removal of software packages. Cygwin, on the other hand, uses its own package manager called "setup.exe" to manage the installation and updating of packages.
Hardware Support: Linux enjoys broad hardware support, with drivers available for a wide range of devices and architectures. Cygwin, being a compatibility layer, relies on the Windows ecosystem for hardware support. While Windows itself has good hardware compatibility, there may be cases where certain niche or specialized hardware may not work as expected in the Cygwin environment.
System Requirements: Cygwin has minimal system requirements and can run on a wide range of Windows systems. Linux, on the other hand, has its own specific minimum system requirements depending on the distribution and its intended use. This can make Linux more demanding in terms of hardware resources compared to Cygwin.

In summary, Cygwin is a compatibility layer for running Linux tools on Windows, while Linux is an independent operating system with its own kernel. Cygwin may have performance limitations compared to Linux and relies on the Windows ecosystem for hardware support. Both have their own package management systems and system requirements.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs

CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on Cygwin, Linux

Jennifer

Mar 16, 2020

Needs advice

Netdata introduces Linux eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter) monitoring. With this enabled, monitor real-time metrics of Linux kernel functions and actions from the very same monitoring and troubleshooting dashboard used for watching entire systems, or even entire infrastructures.

This collector uses eBPF to monitor system calls inside your operating system’s kernel. For now, the main goal of this plugin is to monitor IO and process management on the host where it is running.

67.2k views67.2k

Comments

Justin

Open Source Program Manager at Reblaze

Aug 15, 2019

Review

If you have a file (demo.txt) that has 3 columns:

Column-1    Column-2    Column-3
Row-1a      Row-2a      Row-3a         
Row-1b      Row-2b      Row-3b
Row-1c      Row-2c      Row-3c
Row-1d      Row-2d      Row-3d
Row-1e      Row-2e      Row-3e

and you want to only view the first column of the file in your CLI, run the following:

awk {'print $1'} demo.txt

Column-1
Row-1a
Row-1b
Row-1c
Row-1d
Row-1e

If you want to print the second column of demo.txt, just replace $1 with $2

96.5k views96.5k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Cygwin	Linux
It is a POSIX-compatible environment that runs natively on Microsoft Windows. Its goal is to allow programs of Unix-like systems to be recompiled and run natively on Windows with minimal source code modifications by providing them with the same underlying POSIX API they would expect in those systems.	A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.
A dynamic-link library; API compatibility layer; Color Depths	Portable(Multiplatform); Multitasking; Multi User; Multiprocessor SMP Support; Multithreading Support; Virtual Memory; Hierarchical File System; Graphical User Interface (X Window System)
Statistics
GitHub Stars 23	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks 7	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 27	Stacks 3.1K
Followers 27	Followers 2.5K
Votes 0	Votes 46
Pros & Cons
No community feedback yet	Pros 19 Open Source 12 Free 9 Reliability 6 Safe
Integrations
Linux Kernel	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Cygwin, Linux?

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

Debian

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

Arch Linux

A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

Fedora

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

Linux Mint

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.

CentOS

The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.

CoreOS

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

Gentoo Linux

It is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need.

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.

Manjaro

It is an accessible, friendly, open-source Linux distribution and community. Based on Arch Linux, it provides all the benefits of cutting-edge software combined with a focus on getting started quickly, automated tools to require less manual intervention, and help readily available when needed.

Related Comparisons

Cygwin vs Linux: What are the differences?

Cygwin and Linux are both operating systems that provide an environment for running and executing commands. While they serve a similar purpose, there are key differences between the two.

Code Compatibility: Cygwin is designed to provide a compatibility layer between Windows and Linux, allowing Windows users to run Linux tools and applications. On the other hand, Linux is an independent operating system that is native to various hardware architectures.
Kernel: One of the major differences between Cygwin and Linux is the underlying kernel. Linux uses its own kernel, known as the Linux kernel, which is open source and highly customizable. Cygwin, on the other hand, is not a standalone OS but rather a collection of tools and libraries that allow Windows to emulate a Unix-like environment.
Performance: Due to its design as a compatibility layer, Cygwin can sometimes have performance issues compared to Linux. While Cygwin strives to provide a Unix-like experience on Windows, it may not fully match the performance and efficiency of a native Linux installation.
Package Manager: Another notable difference between Cygwin and Linux is the package management system. Linux distributions typically have their own package managers (e.g., apt, yum, or dnf) that provide easy installation, update, and removal of software packages. Cygwin, on the other hand, uses its own package manager called "setup.exe" to manage the installation and updating of packages.
Hardware Support: Linux enjoys broad hardware support, with drivers available for a wide range of devices and architectures. Cygwin, being a compatibility layer, relies on the Windows ecosystem for hardware support. While Windows itself has good hardware compatibility, there may be cases where certain niche or specialized hardware may not work as expected in the Cygwin environment.
System Requirements: Cygwin has minimal system requirements and can run on a wide range of Windows systems. Linux, on the other hand, has its own specific minimum system requirements depending on the distribution and its intended use. This can make Linux more demanding in terms of hardware resources compared to Cygwin.

Cygwin vs Linux

Overview