In short, Cygwin is “Linux under Windows”. It is not an emulator and you cannot use it to run arbitrary Linux programs directly under Windows. But Cygwin provides an environment to run ported Linux programs (compiled to be Cygwin compatible) and shell scripts under Windows.

Because qooxdoo requires Linux shell scripts for its build process you need Cygwin to execute these scripts.

For more information please have a look at the Cygwin homepage.

This should be fairly easy. Just make sure to select the packages listed below.

First download the Cygwin setup program setup.exe.

Execute it and you will be guided through the installation process by a setup assistant. Select Install from Internet. Chose the Root directory with C:\cygwin being the default. If you want to use a graphical SVN client like Tortoise SVN (instead of the command line interface), make sure that you select DOS / Text for the Default Text File Type:

At the next page, set the Local Package Directory to whatever you like (or leave the default-value untouched). Then select one of the offered download locations and have a refreshing cup of coffee...

The next step is important! In addition to the packages selected by default, please select the following packages. Do so by opening the appropriate folders and click on “Skip” once for each of the packages to select the most recent version:

• Archive
  • zip
  • unzip
• Devel
  • gettext
  • gettext-devel
  • make
• Interpreters
  • python
• Net
  • rsync
• Web
  • wget

Now finish the installation and execute the link just added to your start menu. Then you can see something like:

Please have a look at the output (this will differ in your installation!). This output means that your home directory for Cygwin is at C:\cygwin\home\userName. Please remember your path and replace C:\cygwin\home\userName with your actual path. Finally close the Cygwin window. Congratulations - your system is now “ready” for development of qooxdoo-based web applications!