Support cygwin git

[rcarmo]

• VSCode Version: 1.2.1
• OS Version: Windows 10 Build 14367

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install Cygwin
2. Edit .vscode/settings.json to set git.path to point to "\\cygwin64\\bin\\git.exe
3. VS Code throws up an error message of ENOENT: no such file or directory, lstat 'C:\cygdrive', as described here

This is, of course, because Cygwin namespaces the filesystem differently. However, doing this (which usually fixes things in other tools):

        "git.path": "\\cygwin64\\bin\\bash.exe git",

...then results in further confusion as Code apparently does not have a way to correctly set the environment for the git process, which then defaults to the wrong PATH:

git fetch
git show HEAD:.vscode/settings.json
git show HEAD:.vscode/settings.json
Could not create directory '/c/cygwin64/home/USERNAME/.ssh'.
ssh_askpass: exec(/usr/local/bin/win-ssh-askpass.exe): No such file or directory
Host key verification failed.
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.
git fetch
Could not create directory '/c/cygwin64/home/USERNAME/.ssh'.
ssh_askpass: exec(/usr/local/bin/win-ssh-askpass.exe): No such file or directory
Host key verification failed.
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.

Please make sure you have the correct access rights
and the repository exists.

Trying to set PATH, HOME, etc. inline in the bash command line above fails for some reason I cannot yet fathom, but I would suggest a configuration setting git.env be created so that the environment external Git tools can be pre-configured (this would also benefit the Linux and OSX ports).

As to why this is necessary and why I can't use other Git binaries on Windows, the reason is simple:

Cygwin does Git over SSH "right", with completely identical setup in terms of SSH keys, options, CR/LF encoding, etc. Current Git for Windows simply does not work for my use case (I've tried), and, obviously, the Linux Subsystem doesn't help with this either.

[joaomoreno]

Duplicate of #7361. We don't support cygwin git, sorry.

We've been using Git for Windows successfully in the team, complete with SSH keys, options, line ending encodings et al. What is the actual issue you get with it?

[rcarmo]

Hmmm. So this is a dupe of a ticket that's closed because we've "just never really looked into it"?

My issue is that I can use exactly the same setup with Cygwin than on Linux without having to sort out the (rather clunky) Git for Windows options and separate management of SSH keys. It's just less friction for someone who has to work routinely on both environments. Personally, I would very much like not to have to use Git for Windows at all and just rely on the Cygwin binaries.

Also, you missed my suggestion of adding a git.env setting to set the environment for Git binaries, which is also useful on other platforms. Should I file an issue for that separately?

[joaomoreno]

If #7361 were open we would close this one the same way. It is a duplicate, in any case.

Apologies for coming out harsh.

Let me expand a bit on just never really looked into it. Code already needs to support whichever version of git you have installed in whichever platform you are using it. It is a non-trivial task that gets another complexity fold as soon as we add git flavours. We've found that Git for Windows handles the great majority of the tasks users need and I've personally have yet to find a reason that would make me use cygwin instead.

Of course, I can be wrong and I'm definitely interested in someone proving me wrong. That's why I asked about the actual issue you face. If it is really something Git for Windows does not support, of course we'll reconsider our position towards cygwin, and we'll work towards that.

[rcarmo]

It's all about integration. When you use Cygwin and its userland (bash, CLI tools, SSH, etc.), you don't need an extra terminal emulator like PuTTY, you can use standard Git plugins that rely on Perl/Python etc. seamlessly, and you don't need to set up a copy of your SSH keys anyplace else.

Right now, the current (stunted and incomplete) UNIX userland clone that ships with Git for Windows doesn't provide me those affordances. Also, I can't set GIT_AUTHOR_* and GIT_COMMITTER_* on a per-repo basis using Git for Windows - it's just a surreal amount of pain to deal with that kind of thing inside it, when it all works perfectly in Cygwin.

With an environment setting I might not only actually get Cygwin Git to work (I suspect it's just a matter of setting the right HOME and a few more variables) but also have GIT_* settings set on a per-project basis for me inside VS Code. And this last bit will benefit every other platform, too.

[joaomoreno]

Alright, let's keep this open for tracking the support. A PR would be much appreciated as we'll likely not have cycles to look into it any time soon.

Maybe next time I'm in the Lisbon office, I'll ping you and we'll get it working in an afternoon. 😉