Michael S (already5chosen.delete@this.yahoo.com) on November 25, 2020 9:19 am wrote:
> I am using cygwin only in form, supplied by Altera for Nios2 development, so have no idea how
> recent it is. As far as usability goes, this version is ALOT worse than MSYS2 (which as use
> all the time). I can't right now recollect what exactly is worse, just a general feelings.

I think you are mistaken here. :-) Might also be confirmation basis: once you've got used to a certain system, you (or at least I) tend to avoid the rough spots.

> As to speed, last time I measured was long ago (approximately decade?). Back then
> the difference was massive, mostly around process creation and files opening.
>
> And yes, MSYS2 documentation is bad.
> But is cygwin documentation good? I never looked.

Its OK: mostly things just work out of the box; I think they've put in a lot of thought to maximize interoperability and minimize pain. There is a user manual that describes many of their design decisions and how to tweak the system for optimal use.

I've never had to "cygnify" any of my code though (use specific Cygwin APIs), but it is a testament to their engineering that this is rarely necessary, at least not for non-privileged software.