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What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

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Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#161
post #85

WOW. cmd can actually parse escape codes now AND run Linux scripts! What a time to be alive. I've been using WSL for the last year now on my Surface Pro 4, and it has been nothing short of fantastic. This bridges a HUGE gap that made the MacBook attractive.

It's funny that it took so long to re-implement escape codes, while they already had support for escape codes in DOS sessions via ANSI.SYS since MS-DOS 2.0 :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI.SYS

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#162
post #105

So what is the end game with WSL? What is it that MS is actually trying to do? I remember the NT POSIX subsystem, which was a bit of a joke. It was badly limited and just seemed to be a box ticking exercise to get past some government requirements (disclaimer: I don't actually know if that's true). Whatever the reason, we ended up having to port our POSIX software to NT because customers insisted it was POSIX complie…

"I do believe MS has changed. They don't seem to be the conniving organisation they once were"

I think this ex-Microsoft employee might disagree with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPFbAqICUJo

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#163
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do they have to gain using the Linux kernel? As WSL shows running Linux userland applications on the Windows kernel is perfectly feasible, however, running Windows applications on a Linux kernel (aside from GPL nightmares) is a different story. The two architectures are quite different, but NT was built from the start to support different 'personalities' (cf. the OS/2 and POSIX subsystems).

Running Windows applications on a Linux kernel doesn't involve any GPL nightmares, what makes you think this? MS already has a Windows subsystem for Linux (they are using it in the MSSQL Linux port).

Changing Windows to use the Linux kernel would require integrating the Linux kernel into Windows somehow. That's where the GPL comes in.

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#164
post #67
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you can upgrade from windows 3.11 all the way to 10, good luck with ubuntu. Yeah, I see your point.

I have actual machines that I was able to flawlessly upgrade from 4.10 to 17.04. Can't say that about Windows. Though I did actually know what I shouldn't mess with if I want the upgrade to go through (or fix before).

You got extremely lucky. Not that windows is much better, but in general there are hiccups to upgrading with most linux distros as well as windows.

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#165
post #105

So what is the end game with WSL? What is it that MS is actually trying to do? I remember the NT POSIX subsystem, which was a bit of a joke. It was badly limited and just seemed to be a box ticking exercise to get past some government requirements (disclaimer: I don't actually know if that's true). Whatever the reason, we ended up having to port our POSIX software to NT because customers insisted it was POSIX complie…

"I do believe MS has changed. They don't seem to be the conniving organisation they once were" I think this ex-Microsoft employee might disagree with you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPFbAqICUJo

Could you add a brief summary of the video for those who prefer text for bandwidth (digital or cognitive) reasons?

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#166
Windows Console question here! :)

Are there any plans to support GNU Readline shortcuts such as history searching with Ctrl-R directly in the Windows Console?

I'm mostly using WSL to run the PostgreSQL CLI with the standard keyboard behavior. It would be nice to be able to do that without having to install WSL.

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#167
post #155
post #105

So what is the end game with WSL? What is it that MS is actually trying to do? I remember the NT POSIX subsystem, which was a bit of a joke. It was badly limited and just seemed to be a box ticking exercise to get past some government requirements (disclaimer: I don't actually know if that's true). Whatever the reason, we ended up having to port our POSIX software to NT because customers insisted it was POSIX complie…

Has Microsoft made any inroads into the embedded space? Maybe embracing Linux is part of a long term strategy to becoming a player in the IoT/embedded space.

Windows 10 IoT Core has been added to several prominent refrigerators.

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#168
post #105

So what is the end game with WSL? What is it that MS is actually trying to do? I remember the NT POSIX subsystem, which was a bit of a joke. It was badly limited and just seemed to be a box ticking exercise to get past some government requirements (disclaimer: I don't actually know if that's true). Whatever the reason, we ended up having to port our POSIX software to NT because customers insisted it was POSIX complie…

They want you not to install Linux, but keep using Windows. That way, apart from using their OS, you may end up using the rest of Microsoft software: Edge, Office, Outlook, OneDrive, etc. That wouldn't happen if you used Ubuntu. What I don't understand is why Canonical thought that shrinking their user base would be good for their business.

This increases their user base. Every time you install WSL & Bash on Ubuntu on Windows, you are getting a full Ubuntu distribution.

The only user base that shrinks is the Linux Kernel user base; Ubuntu and Linux are two separate concepts, and WSL demonstrates that they are in fact fully separable.

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#169

Windows Console question here! :) Are there any plans to support GNU Readline shortcuts such as history searching with Ctrl-R directly in the Windows Console? I'm mostly using WSL to run the PostgreSQL CLI with the standard keyboard behavior. It would be nice to be able to do that without having to install WSL.

If you run PowerShell, then PSReadline will give you a similar editing experience in PowerShell. I believe that PSReadline is built into the PowerShell that's part of Windows 10.

Re: What’s New in Bash/WSL and Windows Console

#170
post #154
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. I understand the developer, I don't see the issue (wouldn't mind it being configurable but if it is the only thing that breaks XP support I can understand it). 2. I've seen it, happens probably once a month for 3. This is awesome, you go through it once and have every detail exactly they way you want it just because everything was shown (contrast to being forced to read the entire manual just to know what you can…

1. Color contrast and it's ability to help users distinguish items from each other is a very well researched objective thing. Your personal experience doesn't overturn it as a concept, or make it easier for anyone else to find to find the active terminal. 2. That's great for you. My experience differs. 3. See 1, but for heirarchy. 4. Are sure you sure you can get the tabs all the way to the top? 5. See 2. I suspect I…

1. I'm not arguing that it is. There are more cues than color contrast before taking into account your mental state. As said, I wouldn't mind it being configurable but I understand the reluctance to do it if it breaks XP support.

3. Yes, a perfect hierarchy of the settings would be nice, in theory. Because never mind that what is important depends on the user and context - making the whole concept extremely tricky to get right. It is a tradeoff. And I haven't seen any terminal and few other applications that I've enjoyed setting up as much as ConEmu, most settings are logically where they should be. There are, understandably considering the amount of options, a few places where it can be difficult - but to help with that there is a great search function.

4. I don't even have a tab bar anymore, takes up way too much space and I always switch between tabs using the keyboard (since I only interact with the terminal from the keyboard anyway). But I tested it now, there is about 2px of space above the tab bar but if you try to press that area you still hit the tab you intended. So if you have maximized the window there is no possible way to click above the tab bar.

ConEmu is one of the most well polished applications I use on a daily basis, it doesn't get in the way. I miss it to death every time I'm using a non-windows machine.

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