What is MSYS2?
MSYS2 isn't "one tool to rule them all", but tries to focus on what it's goodat. It provides a native build environment, based on open source software, andmakes you feel right at home when you are already comfortable with Linux. Thereare good reasons to use multiple different environments and tools for differenttasks on Windows.
MSYS2 vs Other Projects
In case you'd like to see more comparisons or feel that they could be improvedplease let us know.
MSYS2 vs WSL
MSYS2 allows you to build native Windows programs, while withWSL you can onlycross compile them which makes things more complicated. If you are just lookingfor Linux CLI tools, or want to build software that ends up on a Linux serveranyway then WSL is the better choice.
MSYS2 vs Chocolatey
Chocolatey mainly bundles already built (open andclosed source) software and makes it easy to install/update them. In MSYS2 onthe other hand all packages are built from source and you can easily reproducethe builds on your machine. Chocolatey packages have the advantage that thebundled installers usually have better Windows integration, in that they set upfile associations, shortcuts, etc. and because they are not built from sourcethere are also lots of packages for closed source software like Visual Studioetc. that would be hard to manage/update otherwise.
MSYS2 vs Cygwin
The unixy tools in MSYS2 are directly based onCygwin, sothere is some overlap there. While Cygwin focuses on building Unix software onWindows as is, MSYS2 focuses on building native software built against theWindows APIs.
MSYS2 vs Arch Linux
MSYS2 andArch Linux share the package manager andall that comes with it, like build definitions, rules for how to package things,how updates work, how packages are signed, how packages are shipped, the rollingrelease nature and so on. By re-using this functionality and concepts we canfocus on the actual packages and profit from the experience and work of ArchLinux developers. Users already familiar with Arch Linux will also have aneasier time getting started.
MSYS2 vs Scoop
Due to lack of experience withscoop see their comparison page: