====== MinGW - Minimalist GNU for Windows ======

A UNIX-like working environments for M$-Windows.

  * [[http://www.mingw.org|MinWG Homepage]] – MinGW: A native Windows port of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), with freely distributable import libraries and header files for building native Windows applications.

  * [[http://www.mingw.org/wiki/MSYS|MSYS]] is a collection of GNU utilities such as bash, make, gawk and grep to allow building of applications and programs which depend on traditionally UNIX tools to be present. It is intended to supplement MinGW and the deficiencies of the cmd shell.

<WRAP group>
<WRAP half column>
<wrap safety>pro:</wrap>
  * Unix like directory tree
  * Full GCC development environment
  * Native Windows™ executable linked to common Windows™ libraries (nothing like cygwin.dll).
</WRAP>
<WRAP half column>
<wrap danger>cons:</wrap>
  * Requires more Linux/Unix skills (probably too much for those who just want to profit from the power of some few Unix commands.
  * No (out of the box) explorer integration
  * Some tools need to be selected manually (selecting full package may be too much for those who just want to profit from the power of some few Unix commands).
</WRAP>
</WRAP>

===== Installation =====

  - Read [[http://www.mingw.org/wiki/Getting_Started|"Getting Started"]] advise.
  - <wrap download>[[https://osdn.net/projects/mingw/downloads/68260/mingw-get-setup.exe|Download the MinGW Installer]]</wrap>
  - Run the installer and follow the instructions.\\ <wrap important>**Note:** You may accept the defaults, however be sure to select **//MSYS Basic System//** in the component selection dialog in order to create a user's home directory.</wrap>
  - [[https://sites.google.com/site/axusdev/tutorials/installminttyformsys|Install mintty for MSYS]] [(https://sites.google.com/site/axusdev/tutorials/installminttyformsys)] [(https://superuser.com/questions/955424/how-can-i-use-mintty-as-the-terminal-emulator-for-mingw-msys)]<code>mingw-get install mintty</code><code>C:\MinGW\msys\1.0\msys.bat --mintty</code>
  - Install some very basic utilities from MinGW shell.<file sh postinstall.sh>
#!/bin/sh

# Get latest package list from server
#mingw-get update

# Upgrade already installed packages
#mingw-get upgrade

# Install important software packages from MinGW archives
#mingw-get install msys-wget
#mingw-get install msys-zip
#mingw-get install msys-unzip
#mingw-get install msys-man
#mingw-get install msys-perl
#mingw-get install msys-vim
#mingw-get install mintty

# Install optional extra software tools
OPT=`pwd -W | sed -e 's/\([A-Z]:\).*/\1\\opt/'`

</file>
  - For your convenience setup the [[soft:engineering:mingw#Windows Explorer integration]].

~~REFNOTES~~

===== Tutorials =====

  * [[http://ingar.satgnu.net/devenv/mingw32/index.html|Building a custom MinGW/MSYS development environment]]

===== More UNIX tools =====

  * [[http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages.html|GnuWin Packages]]

  * **gnuplot**\\ :TODO:

===== Windows Explorer Integration =====

In order to get an //Open MinGW Bash here...// item in the windows explorer's context menu add one the below to your registry
[( [[http://www.burgaud.com/open-command-window-here/|Open Command Window Here]] )]
[( [[http://unitstep.net/blog/2009/05/16/open-cygwin-bash-shell-here/|Open Cygwin Bash Shell Here]] )]:

<file reg MinGW_Open_Bash_here.reg>
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\MinGW_Here]
@="&MinGW: Open Bash here..."
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\MinGW_Here\command]
@="C:\\MinGW\\msys\\1.0\\bin\\bash.exe --login -c \"cd '%1' ; exec /bin/bash -rcfile ~/.bashrc\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\MinGW_Here]
@="&MinGW: Open Bash here..."
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\MinGW_Here\command]
@="C:\\MinGW\\msys\\1.0\\bin\\bash.exe --login -c \"cd '%1' ; exec /bin/bash -rcfile ~/.bashrc\""
</file>

If you like to cut&paste from/to windows applications you may prefer MinTTY as console replacement:

<file reg MinGW_Open_Bash_here.reg>
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\MinGW_Here]
@="&MinGW: Open Bash here..."
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\MinGW_Here\command]
@="C:\\MinGW\\msys\\1.0\\bin\\mintty.exe /bin/bash --login -c \"cd '%1' ; exec /bin/bash -rcfile ~/.bashrc\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\MinGW_Here]
@="&MinGW: Open Bash here..."
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\shell\MinGW_Here\command]
@="C:\\MinGW\\msys\\1.0\\bin\\mintty.exe /bin/bash --login -c \"cd '%1' ; exec /bin/bash -rcfile ~/.bashrc\""
</file>

References:
~~REFNOTES~~

===== Troubleshooting =====

  * [[http://blog.256bit.org/archives/59-Cygwin-auf-Windows.html|Fixing the missing German umlauts]] -- This also applies to MinGW.
  * [[http://mingw-users.1079350.n2.nabble.com/Portable-MSYS-td6337456.html|MinGW-users - Portable MSYS ?]]