CYGWIN can be a powerful tool for the IT Professional.

Though it is not a full blown Linux system, the tools it adds to windows can be an asset for the IT Professional. When you install the tool within windows, you have options to install a variety of developer tools in the mix. My first exposure to the tool was when I took a C++ class at the University and the professor suggested that windows users install the tool on their personal machine. This in turn created a portable lab for getting our class work done. The University labs held Red Hat machines where you turned in your lab work. Ever since I have used CYGWIN in my work, mainly because many of our web servers are Red Hat Servers at the University.

When I install CYGWIN on a box I install all the packages, considering I never know what I may be working on. The web applications I support run on Microsoft Servers and open source Linux Servers. This is fairly common in Academia, as  most schools run on a tight budget.

What do I want to do with this blog? Well mainly I thought I would share some things I use in my job concerning this tool. One of the things I was going to cover was how to set up an SSH server on a IT Office machine. But with the latest changes to Windows 10, you can now install Open-ssh on Windows securely. Microsoft has gained an interest in the open source community, which I consider to be a good thing.

So what should I do? I think to start I have had an interest in Open COBOL for a while. I converted some old programs I had kept around from a previous employer a couple of years ago. These programs were Originally written in Microsoft COBOL in the 90s. There were only minor changes that needed to be made to the source before compiling in Open COBOL. While I have been using Open COBOL the name has changed to GNU COBOL. I encourage anyone interested in COBOL to give it a try as the project has proven to be very stable. I would dare say a person could create his own Green Screen system using the language. Two of the program I have created are a Password Database screen and a Phone Database screen. If time allows I plan to have a GIT HUB download of the source code I talk about in this blog.

If you followed me this far, I hope you are interested in reading more. Thanks for visiting my blog. I plan on the next post to be my initial set up for compiling GNU COBOL programs, and some minor changes to the CYGWIN environment that I like to use.