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DOS Subsystem for Linux

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Re: DOS Subsystem for Linux

#25

Post by cabalamat »

kentonv wrote: post #15
panpanna wrote: post #7

I guess someone had to ask this... Does it run under WSL?

Well, no... WSL runs Linux inside Windows. DSL runs Linux inside DOS. So there's no stacking that makes sense here. (I think we're seeing just how confusing the "Subsystem for Linux" naming is. "Foo Subsystem for Linux" sounds like a way to run Foo under Linux, but it's the opposite...)

> I think we're seeing just how confusing the "Subsystem for Linux" naming is.

Indeed.

> a way to run Foo under Linux

"Under" is also confusing since "run X under Y" means the same as "run X on Y" even though it's the opposite analogy.

I suggest everyone stick to "X on Y", e.g. Linux on DOS.

Re: DOS Subsystem for Linux

#26

Post by TheRealPomax »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #8

So does this run DOS on Windows? Or DOS on Linux? Or Linux on DOS? Or DOS on Linux on Windows? Would be nice if there were an explanation in the README.

The GIF's prety much crystal clear: it runs QEMU on Linux. And QEMU runs whatever you want, because it's a machine emulator/virtualiser, in this case it's running as x86 with MS DOS on top.

Re: DOS Subsystem for Linux

#27

Post by plus »

There are a ton of comments here that seem to be misunderstanding what this software is. This creates a WSL-like environment on a DOS host system. It does not create a DOS environment on a Linux host. I'm not sure where this misunderstanding even comes from; the name is perfectly analogous to WSL.

Re: DOS Subsystem for Linux

#28

Post by armoredkitten »

TheRealPomax wrote: post #24

This should come preinstalled on literally any and all Linux flavours. It would remove so many barriers for folks first trying Linux after decades of Windows.

I feel like for most Windows users, using DOS is probably as (or even more) foreign as using Linux. How many times do you think the average Windows user has used a command prompt in the past year?

Re: DOS Subsystem for Linux

#30

Post by minxomat »

maple3142 wrote: post #18

Just wondering. Since "Windows subsystem for Linux" is running Linux on Windows, shouldn't it be named "Linux subsystem for DOS"?

EDIT: I stand corrected. A closer look at TFA confirmed that it is indeed DSL. I was confused by the screenshot which at first glance just shows DOS running in QEMU on Linux. But it goes deeper!

Yes, that is correct. Windows Subsystem for Linux means it's one of Windows' subsystems which provides linux.

This should be called Linux Subsystem for DOS.

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