Re: encapsulating directory operations

"Kaz Kylheku" <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> wrote in message
news:20250522161342.990@kylheku.com...

On 2025-05-22, James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:

On 5/22/25 18:46, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

On Thu, 22 May 2025 14:13:53 -0400, James Kuyper wrote:
>

POSIX wasn't universal when C90 came out, and it still isn't universal
today.

>
POSIX is very much universal today. The entire Internet runs on POSIX-
based systems. You likely have one in your pocket or purse right now.

>
POSIX systems are quite wide-spread today. That doesn't make them
universal. In order to be universal, there must be no non-POSIX systems,
and that is manifestly not the case. In particular, while there is
support for POSIX subsystem for Windows, it does not fully conform with
POSIX, and is not the default when using Windows. There's also systems
with no operating system at all, many of which could (and some of which
do) support a fully conforming implementation of C.

>
POSIX is fairly decently supported on Windows by Cygwin.

You can add anything to anything.

You may as well say that Windows is widely supported, via WINE.

I've made multiple attempts to install WINE. Only one of them,
years ago, worked. Yes, with enough work, I could likely have
got it to work.

But reality is, plenty of times, if you gives someone a Windows
executable, they will say "I can't run that, I'm on Linux".
Technically, with a lot of work, they could probably run it.
But they don't want to add anything to anything.

And vice versa.

No matter how many times someone says to me "just install WSL",
or Cygwin, I am not going to install either. So there is no point
giving me a Linux executable. It won't work. Nor will a
recompilation from source work. I don't have the headers.

Although if you want to be pedantic, I do have another way of
running a Linux executable. But it's not on my native Windows
system. And I have a very old and very odd Cygwin that I
spent a lot of time getting for my Windows 2000 system. I think
I needed one that matched the gcc 3.2.3 I use. But it's not on
my Windows 10 system regardless.

POSIX is not universal. Not then. Not now. Unless you want
to DEFINE it that way. ie any non-POSIX machine "doesn't
count".

BFN. Paul.