talking about BTRF, or OpenSSH is like talking about bullshit, since in this case you'd better use VirtualBox, or a real machine
Legacy, here is your original post that I replied to:
CoLinux, it works great on XP/32bit, but …
anyone is using it? if so, which is your feedback?
You are furious with me because I didn't guess from these two lines that you are using ghdl on Linux, ISE on Windows XP, that you are sharing the D partition, and that you are sharing COM1. I am sorry if that makes me stupid. You were mad at me for mentioning SSH, but you admit to using a terminal. SSH just means you can get the same terminal windows on your XP machine, or from your mobile phone while you are on a bus. If you are doing slow simulations, it may be handy to be able to check in from anywhere. There is a lot of hidden power built into SSH that basic terminals do not have.
I know - you will get mad again because you don't use buses.
If you are into VHDL development, then you are an interesting and worthwhile person to talk to, and if you be a bit more helpful, you probably could help others trying to go down the same track.
I would guess that you would prefer not to have to use Windows XP and a 32 bit 4G RAM environment. It could be that some of your old software only runs on Windows XP, but it is a pity if that forces you to use XP all the time.
Probably the big sticking point is the use of a shared COM1. That is just not a portable way to communicate between applications. Once you get the hang of it, rewriting your code to use the TCP stack is better, faster and totally portable. I really do understand that there may be some whacky issue that has forced you to use COM1 as the only solution.
If there is a way around the COM1 port issue, your options open right up. Virtualbox VM's can share folders on the Windows system. Docker containers can share folders too. Someone actually made a ghdl Docker container, and if you install docker for windows, you can get it from Dockerhub with a single simple command line in a few minutes. This ghdl container has little documentation and the readme is in a foreign language. Maybe useable, but if it turns out that docker is a good solution for you, you can always set up your own ghdl container, save it to dockerhub, and then anyone else here can get the benefit of your setup of ghdl on almost any platform with a single command line. Don't want to learn Docker - fine.
I have some legacy apps that need XP, so I have XP as virtual machines on Virtualbox and KXM. Virtualbox can run headless, so you can just have a desktop icon that can immediately launch an XP window. It is pretty good. If you really strip XP down, you can get XP by itself using about 250Meg RAM and the VM can boot very fast on a modern fast 64bit PC.
Just suggestions.