Interix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
The lists in this article may contain items that are not notable, encyclopedic, or helpful. Please help out by removing such elements and incorporating appropriate items into the main body of the article. (January 2008) |
Interix is the name of an optional, full-featured POSIX and Unix environment subsystem for Microsoft's Windows NT-based operating systems. It is a component of the Services for Unix (SFU) release 3.0 and 3.5 (this last one is distributed free). The most recent releases of Interix, 5.2 and 6.0, are components of the Windows Server 2003 R2 and Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions under the name SUA [1] (Subsystem for Unix-based Applications).[2]
Contents |
[edit] Details
Like the Microsoft POSIX subsystem in Windows NT, Interix is an implementation of an environment subsystem running atop the Windows kernel. Interix provides numerous open source utilities, much like the cygwin project.
The complete installation of Interix includes:
- Over 350 Unix utilities such as vi, ksh, csh, ls, cat, awk, grep, kill, etc.
- A complete set of manual pages for utilities and API's
- GCC 3.3 compiler, includes and libraries
- A cc/c89-like wrapper for Microsoft Visual Studio command-line C/C++ compiler
- GNU Debugger
- X11 client applications and libraries (no X server included though)
- Has Unix "root" capabilities (i.e. setuid files)
- Supports pthreads, shared libraries, DSO's, job control, signals, sockets, shared memory
The development environment includes support for C, C++ and Fortran. Threading is supported using the Pthreads model. Additional languages can be obtained (Python, Ruby, Tcl, etc.). The pkgsrc software packaging/build system was ported to work with Interix 3.5, and may work with newer versions (not yet tested).
Starting with release 5.2 the following capabilities were added:[3]
- "Mixed mode" for linking Unix programs with Windows DLLs
- 64-bit CPU support (in addition to 32-bit)
- Large file system support on 64-bit systems
- System V utilities can be optionally installed instead of the default BSD-based utilities
With release 6.0 the following new features can be expected:
- IPv6 support
- Updates to utilities are planned
- MSVC debugging plug-in
Also Interix is slated to be included only with Vista Ultimate and Enterprise (not other Vista editions) from the next version onwards.
[edit] History
This product began to be developed in 1996 under the product name OpenNT by Softway Systems, Inc. before the name was changed to Interix in 1998. The last release by Softway Systems was release 2.2. Softway Systems had virtually completed the next release code-named Firebrand in 1999 which became the basis of Interix 3.0.
Interix was acquired by Microsoft in 1999. Microsoft continued to distribute Interix 2.2 as a standalone product until 2002.
Interix release 3.0 was released as component of Services for Unix (SFU) 3.0 in 2002. Interix release 3.5 was released as component of SFU 3.5 in January, 2004.
Interix became integrated as component of the regular Windows OS distribution[3] as a component of Windows 2003 Server R2 in December, 2005 at release 5.2 and is a component of the Windows Vista release as release 6.0 (RTM November, 2006). Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 betas presently include SUA 6.1.[4]
[edit] Releases
- OpenNT Commands & Utilities, Release 1.0 (1.0)
- 1996-03-29 OpenNT Commands & Utilities, Release 1.0 for WinNT POSIX Subsystem
- 1996-07 X11R6 Server (Win32)
- 1996-08 telnetd (and inetd)
- OpenNT 1.1 and SDK (1.1)
- 1996-09 OpenNT 1.1 and SDK for WinNT i386,alpha
- OpenNT 2.0 (2.0)
- 1997-05 OpenNT 2.0 (Apache httpd and xv) for WinNT i386,alpha
- 1997-08-12 "OpenNT: UNIX Application Portability to Windows NT via an Alternative Environment Subsystem" Usenix paper
- 1997-08-12 "OpenNT: UNIX Application Portability to Windows NT" Usenix presentation (again 1998-06)
- 1997-11 "inetd and telnetd on Windows NT with OpenNT"
- OpenNT 2.1 (2.1)
- 1997-12 OpenNT 2.1 for WinNT i386,alpha
- 1998-01 OpenNT 2.1
- 1998-02 "Technical Note #9: inetd and the Daemon Package"
- 1998-spring paper update
- 1998-06 Interix 2.1 rebranding
- Interix 2.2 (2.2)
- 1998-06 Interix 2.2(.0)?
- 1999-02 SFU 1.0 en for WinNT 4.0(SP3+) i386,alpha
- 1999-09-17 Acquired by Microsoft
- 1999-12 Interix 2.2(.0) for WinNT 3.51(SP5+),4.0(SP3+),5.0
- Interix 2.2 Service Pack 1 (2.2.4)
- Interix 2.2.5 (2.2.5)
- 2000-02 Interix 2.2.5 for WinNT 4.0(SP5+),5.0
- 2000-04 SFU 2.0 en for WinNT 4.0(SP4+),5.0 i386
- 2000-06 SFU 2.0 ja for WinNT 4.0(SP4+),5.0 i386
- 2001-06-30 "Strangely Enough It All Turns Out Well" Usenix talk
- Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX 3.0 (3.0)
- 2002-05 SFU 3.0 en for WinNT 4.0(SP6a+),5.0,5.1 i386
- Interix 3.0 (AKA Firebrand)
- 2002-10 SFU 3.0 ja for WinNT 4.0(SP6a+),5.0,5.1 i386
- Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX 3.5 (3.5)
- 2004-01 SFU 3.5 en,ja for WinNT 5.0,5.1,5.2 i386
- Windows Server 2003 R2 Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (5.2)
- 2005-12-06 WinNT 5.2 R2
- Windows Vista Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (6.0)
- 2006-11-08 WinNT 6.0 (2007-01-30)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- UNIX Tools for Windows; prepackaged application binaries from Interop Systems
- Services for UNIX - Interoperability: A blog on Services for UNIX and UNIX Interoperability components in Windows by Ashish (official blog, MSDN)
- INTERIX: UNIX Application Portability to Windows NT via an Alternative Environment Subsystem PDF historical
- SUA Installation Webcast on Interop Systems
- Interix: Unix for Microsoft Windows; third-party informational site
- Description from the Tcl-Wiki
- Debian-Interix Port
