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MinGW VS BusyBox

Compare MinGW VS BusyBox and see what are their differences

Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

MinGW logo MinGW

MinGW ("Minimalistic GNU for Windows") is a port of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) and...

BusyBox logo BusyBox

BusyBox is a single binary that provides several stripped-down Unix tools in a single executable.
  • MinGW Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-12-08
  • BusyBox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-14

MinGW features and specs

  • Open Source
    MinGW is an open-source software project, which makes it freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute.
  • Lightweight
    It is a lightweight alternative to full-fledged development environments, providing essential tools without unnecessary overhead.
  • Windows Compatibility
    MinGW offers native Windows support, allowing developers to compile applications that can run directly on Windows without the need for a compatibility layer.
  • GCC Integration
    It includes the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), which is widely considered a strong, stable, and versatile set of compilers for C, C++, and other languages.
  • Active Community
    MinGW is supported by an active community, which can provide help, patches, and additional resources via forums and online discussions.

Possible disadvantages of MinGW

  • Limited POSIX Support
    While MinGW provides some POSIX functionality, its support is limited compared to other environments like Cygwin, which might be a drawback for developers relying on extensive POSIX compatibility.
  • Manual Configuration
    Initial setup and configuration can be cumbersome for beginners, requiring a manual installation process that might be intimidating or time-consuming.
  • Lacks Newest GCC Features
    At times, MinGW may lag in providing the latest features or updates available in the newest versions of GCC, leading to potential compatibility or feature discrepancies.
  • No Native 64-bit Support
    Historically, MinGW has focused on 32-bit toolchains, which may not offer the full benefits of modern 64-bit architectures. However, MinGW-w64 was developed to address this issue.
  • Fragmentation
    The existence of multiple variants such as MinGW and MinGW-w64 can cause confusion, leading developers to face challenges in choosing the right version for their needs.

BusyBox features and specs

  • Lightweight
    BusyBox is designed to be a minimalistic utility that combines tiny versions of many common UNIX utilities into a single small executable, making it ideal for systems with limited resources.
  • All-in-One
    It provides a comprehensive suite of tools and utilities in one package, eliminating the need to install and manage multiple separate utilities.
  • Customizable
    BusyBox can be customized to include only the needed utilities, which allows for a tailored solution that fits the specific requirements of a project or system.
  • Open Source
    It is open source, meaning it is freely available for anyone to use, modify, and distribute, which encourages collaboration and community-driven improvements.
  • Widely Used in Embedded Systems
    BusyBox is popular in embedded systems and other environments where storage and processing power are limited, making it a proven choice for resource-constrained applications.

Possible disadvantages of BusyBox

  • Limited Functionality
    Being a smaller version of each utility, BusyBox may lack some of the advanced features found in full versions of UNIX utilities, which can be a limitation for complex tasks.
  • Compatibility Issues
    Certain scripts or applications that expect specific behaviors from standard Linux utilities might not work correctly with BusyBox due to subtle differences in functionality.
  • Less Frequent Updates
    Compared to mainstream distributions and their utilities, BusyBox might not be updated as frequently, which can be a concern for security or feature updates.
  • Steeper Learning Curve for Customization
    Customizing BusyBox to include or exclude specific utilities can require a more in-depth understanding of both the system’s needs and the configuration options available.

MinGW videos

+ Add

MinGW или Cygwin

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Install MinGW | GCC Toolset for C and C++ Programming | Setting Path variable on Windows 10
  • Tutorial - How to install | use gcc | MinGW compiler in windows | window 10

BusyBox videos

+ Add

What is BusyBox | Busybox demo

More videos:

  • Review - What Is Busybox and Why do we need it for Android?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to MinGW and BusyBox)

MinGW

BusyBox

Terminal Tools
61 61%
Terminal Tools
39% 39
SSH
58 58%
SSH
42% 42
Server Management
63 63%
Server Management
37% 37
Tool
100 100%
Tool
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare MinGW and BusyBox

MinGW Reviews

10 Termux Alternatives
MinGW is an application with all the functions of GNU that includes the runtime of MSVC and supports C99 functionality. This software is only supported and executed on 64bit Windows and similar platforms with Linux shell environment and provides its users the facility of different import types of files and libraries and move them to other software according to your specific...
Source: www.justalternativeto.com

BusyBox Reviews

Top 10 Best Apps To Use Linux Terminal on Your Android Device
BusyBox is an excellent option for Android users who want to have control in the internal Linux command-line shell. This terminal emulator for Android requires a rooted device to function properly. It is one of the most popular among its competitors. There is a pro version, but the vanilla edition is more than enough for casual users. It will provide you with numerous Unix...
Source: www.ubuntupit.com
Best Terminal Emulator for Android in 2021
BusyBox is a famous terminal emulator for quick and reliable performance. It needs the device to be rooted for executing the app. The emulator can work well with Linux kernel with GNU Core applications. It offers plenty of standard Unix tools with backup features to retrieve all data. The app provides the user to choose the desired applets for quick installation. It also...
Source: www.techowns.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, BusyBox seems to be a lot more popular than MinGW. While we know about 17 links to BusyBox, we've tracked only 1 mention of MinGW. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

MinGW mentions (1)

  • Is Mingw dead?
    Is osdn's mingw it a new project ? It's surprising how it provides gcc 4.8.2 and gcc 9.2.0. I guess the 4.8.2 is the last one provided by mingw.org, and 9.2.0 is the first of osdn's project? Is it maintained by the same developers? Source: about 4 years ago

BusyBox mentions (17)

  • Revisit base container image for AWS services
    The busybox container is, as the name suggests, a base image that contains the minimum environment for BusyBox to work. It is also one of the official Docker images. The actual Dockerfile for creating this image is as follows:. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Making memcpy(NULL, NULL, 0) well-defined
    Https://busybox.net/~landley/c99-draft.html#7.20.6.1 "The abs, labs, and llabs functions compute the absolute value of an integer j. If the result cannot be represented, the behavior is undefined. (242)" 242 The absolute value of the most negative number cannot be represented in two's complement. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Docker, Linux, Security. Kinda.
    On to our second point, which is the cli utilities' implementation. Debian and Ubuntu use gnu's Coreutils while Alpine uses Busybox(remember, we are talking about the most used application container bases. You can install a desktop version of Alpine with GNU coreutils). Here we have the same situation as before, The GNU coreutils are bigger, do more and have a larger attack surface. Busybox is smaller, does not... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • The Awk Programming Language, Second Edition
    AWK runs everywhere. Perl and Python do not. Busybox has their own independent AWK implementation. https://busybox.net/ https://frippery.org/busybox/ Also see the first edition of the AWK manual online here: https://archive.org/details/pdfy-MgN0H1joIoDVoIC7. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • This would have made my life so much easier in the beginning....
    A majority of routers are already based on the Linux kernel. Many are just BusyBox. The most common Linux firewalls are iptables and nftables. With the latter being the most popular one due to being around longer. They are really fine grained and powerful. Source: about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing MinGW and BusyBox, you can also consider the following products

MSYS2 - A Cygwin-derived software distro for Windows using Arch Linux's Pacman

Termux - Terminal emulator and Linux environment for Android

Cygwin - Cygwin is a set of tools that provide Linux and POSIX functionality to Windows.

GNU Core Utilities - The GNU Core Utilities or coreutils is a package of GNU software containing many of the basic...

PowerShell - Download WMF. Windows Management Framework contains the latest versions of PowerShell, DSC, WMI, and WinRM for older versions of Windows. PowerShell Module Browser. Search for PowerShell modules and cmdlets.

MobaXterm - Enhanced terminal for Windows with X11 server, tabbed SSH client, network tools and much more

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