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Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

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Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#161

Post by blibble »

shados wrote: post #123
JorgeGT wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to The Verge, they may block security updates if you install manually through the ISO, so that's a no go for me: https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/28/22646035/microsoft-window...

Ok, if that's true, I'm back to raging about how absolutely ridiculous this is. Why obsolete a computer that can still run almost anything on high-ish settings @.@ Because there's 0.01% more crash or whatever....

so they can get an extra $60 out of the OEM for a new Windows license when you buy another PC

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#162

Post by ChuckMcM »

This is pretty cool. I've been using VcXsrv to run an X server on the windows side so that I can pop open gui Linux tools (setting the DISPLAY variable manually to {windows host IP}:0)

The two remaining glitches here are harmonizing file system support across both domains (its fine if you are in the Linux domain and reach over and get or put files into the Windows domain, but the other direction has "issues". And some sort of USB support so that devices can be handled in either domain easily[1].

Mostly I find it is an easy way to use my Linux work flow on a machine that for other reasons has to have Windows on it. Overall the impact is lower than it is if I run an actual VM.

[1] Recently discovered that a windows executable running on the Linux side can "see" the USB stuff so running dfu-util works from the Linux side.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#163

Post by cybernautique »

p_j_w wrote: post #108
cybernautique wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my opinion, this is actually a question of values. My position: absolutely not, but I take it as axiomatic that Microsoft (et al.) are incapable of any actual "good." This is simply Window's attempt to build a new walled garden. If they were actually serious about advancing the state of civil computing, they'd make the NT core available as a microkernel that can be modularly placed into the Linux ecosystem. That i…

I'm of a similar opinion. If they want to prove that they heart Linux, that's what they're going to have to do. Or, at the very least, document everything (including DX) so that the Wine devs can do their thing even if MS don't care to help. Until then, "MS <3 Linux" is nothing more than PR speak in my mind.

Absolutely agreed. Microsoft is not a pleasure to develop with, which is (in my opinion) a losing position with time. They see what Linux makes a pleasure, so they pursue the trappings of the community while damning the spirit of cooperation. Cynically, I see their moves as nothing more than an attempt to capture social capital.

Hopefully, nobody is having the wool pulled over their eyes. Don't get me wrong: their incorporation of a TTY-like interface into CMD, and the Linuxification of Powershell, demonstrate the craftsmanship that Microsoft pride themselves on. It's good tech, but tainted. I will never trust Microsoft after the RDP fiasco.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#164

Post by numpad0 »

shados wrote: post #123
JorgeGT wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to The Verge, they may block security updates if you install manually through the ISO, so that's a no go for me: https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/28/22646035/microsoft-window...

Ok, if that's true, I'm back to raging about how absolutely ridiculous this is. Why obsolete a computer that can still run almost anything on high-ish settings @.@ Because there's 0.01% more crash or whatever....

I’m speculating it was supposed to let them drop Meltdown patches. Doing so easily creates “20% performance gain over Windows 10 on same machine”. Aligns with the statement that they “block” “security” updates.

But this is clearly coming from someone who’s not actively in coding role and without consultation with developers, as some of CPUs(namely Ryzen 2k) to be supported don’t have the required but not very well debugged features(MBEC for Zen 2 - Ryzen 3k and up with luck).

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#166

Post by jcastro »

squarefoot wrote: post #120
AcerbicZero wrote: post #8

WSL seriously changed the amount of work I can do from my gaming PC, but I’m not sure if that’s actually a good thing based on my productivity over the past few months. That aside it’s terrific to see MS putting something good into Windows rather than just removing things and taking choice away from the end user.

> That aside it’s terrific to see MS putting something good into Windows rather than just removing things and taking choice away from the end user. That's the tip of the iceberg MS want everyone to see, and point the finger at. MS want people to stop using Linux as an alternative since they lost the battle when they attempted to kill it during the Ballmer era. The plan now is more subtle: making sure everyone using L…

> MS want people to stop using Linux as an alternative

Linux desktops as they currently stand aren't even close to a threat to Windows, this is Microsoft using the Linux userspace to get developer mindshare back from OSX.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#167

Post by badsectoracula »

mcswell wrote: post #147
smichel17 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which apps? Not that it makes a difference for this conversation, but I'm interested in keeping up to date with what the "killer apps" are that keep people from switching.

If you're talking about Windows apps that keep me from switching to Linux, I have an oddball one: it's a keyboard re-mapper that I wrote back in Windows 3.1 and still use. It does the same re-mapping in every application (except for some reason in Microsoft Edge). It's not a simple 1-for-1 mapper, which I think is readily available in Linux. At the simplest level, it re-maps ^H to the left cursor arrow, ^N to PageDow…

If you use Xorg you can use XInput2 and XIGrabKeycode[0] to grab specific key combinations and get notified (via event messages, they happen asynchronously) when they are pressed. Then you can use XTest and XTestFakeKeyEvent[1] to send the event you want.

XInput2 and XIGrabKeycode should provide the highest priority grabbing under Xorg so that even applications that do server-wide grabs (e.g. games) will be bypassed.

XTest was meant for automated UI testing but can be used for all sorts of automated behaviors.

For the first part i wrote a simple program[2] years a go that uses xkill to kill the toplevel window with Ctrl+Alt+K (mainly for games that grab the input and hang) which can be used as a quick example. I haven't tried to use XTestFakeKeyEvent but there seems to be a lot of code out there which can be used as an example, e.g. this one[2] (see the send_key function near the top).

[0] https://linux.die.net/man/3/xigrabkeycode

[1] https://linux.die.net/man/3/xtestfakekeyevent

[2] http://runtimeterror.com/tools/xkeyller/

[3] http://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit.cgi/matchbox-history/plain/...

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#169

Post by Longhanks »

mike_hock wrote: post #141
Dylan16807 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not amazing but a quick calculation says that a full 1080 screen will generally transfer in just under half a millisecond.

If that's the only loss of performance, that sounds amazing compared to running anything under Wine.

If only wine had the full source code to anything Windows available, as does Microsoft with anything Linux

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#170

Post by kingosticks »

MikusR wrote: post #138
justinc8687 wrote: post #105

How is this better than just running vcxsrv and inside WSL setting DISPLAY=WINDOWS_HOST_IP:0? I've been doing this to run graphical linux apps for a couple years now, both on WSL1 and on a regular Hyper-V Linux VM.

With hardware acceleration and CUDA?

And audio?
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