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Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

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Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#191

Post by waych »

dirkg wrote: post #174

I'd love to use WSL2 but the longstanding issue with slow I/O between WSL NTFS host is a dealbreaker. It basically means you have to keep all your data inside ext4 in Linux and that defeats the whole point - e.g. you can't keep your code, or files you download etc in Windows. With WSL you can keep all data in NTFS, have near native speeds but you can't run a bunch of Linux cmdline tools. I don't know if they can solv…

Ah yes, 9p2000. The network filesystem where caching is non-existent and left as an after-thought.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#192

Post by reilly3000 »

merb wrote: post #178
reilly3000 wrote: post #31

I wonder what Linux exclusive software they are hoping to support. Everything I use in my Ubuntu daily driver has a Windows build or corollary app. I get how ‘you never have to leave Windows’ is a nice thing for their business, but I don’t see this being a reason I would stop dual-booting. The only reason I run windows in the first place is for a few apps, mostly games. Otherwise I really enjoy the bloat-free, ad-fre…

the reverse would also be pretty useful. heck if they would pull off office for linux even when they would charge windows pro and a 365 license it would probably be welcomed.

I would buy that the moment it is released. That would be the fabled Year of the Linux Desktop.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#193

Post by MattPalmer1086 »

tck42 wrote: post #40
seanw444 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same situation here. Dual-booting Linux and Windows 10, and I figured I'd boot into Windows often enough for it to get obnoxious. But I only ever get on there to play a few demanding games (which I already don't play often anymore), or make music with an A+ DAW for making music that doesn't run super effectively on Wine. Linux handles everything else I do like a champ.

A friend of mine has been complaining that a DAW is the only thing keeping him stuck in Windows at this point as well. In his case, he specifically said that VST's were the problem. Was your experience the same?

Yep, for me it's the DAW and VSTs that keep me needing Windows for now. You can try to make them work with Wine or whatever, but it's not worth the hassle.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#194

Post by [deleted] »

jjcon wrote: post #67

I don't want to want this, but I do. Only semi-related but what I really want is for easy windows apps on linux that work without fail. I prefer my linux box and generally hate the windows ui (don't get me started on windows settings or audio). I've tried switching to linux full-time but I don't know if I can hack it. Games are 90% there and I can do without the few that don't work with proton, but there are just too…

[deleted]

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#195

Post by gigel82 »

reilly3000 wrote: post #31

I wonder what Linux exclusive software they are hoping to support. Everything I use in my Ubuntu daily driver has a Windows build or corollary app. I get how ‘you never have to leave Windows’ is a nice thing for their business, but I don’t see this being a reason I would stop dual-booting. The only reason I run windows in the first place is for a few apps, mostly games. Otherwise I really enjoy the bloat-free, ad-fre…

IIRC, they were primarily interested in getting GPU acceleration (for ML tasks) to work in WSL2.

I presume getting GUI working on top of those GPU APIs was a trivial task (and maybe done by one of their interns or during a hackathon).

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#196

Post by fanatic2pope »

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…

I haven't tried it yet, but I recently learned about this tool and have it on my list to test drive:

https://github.com/rvaiya/keyd

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#197

Post by city41 »

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…

I wonder how many people who rely on Linux have truly moved to WSL? I gave it a try and I find real Linux vastly superior. Hybrid Windows+WSL apps, what is the point? Developing Windows apps with .NET is very easy and pleasant.

Don't get me wrong, I agree we should be concerned about WSL. But I think it's also very possible Microsoft recognizes developers that aren't developing with MS tech (ie anything but .NET these days) pretty much never use Windows and they are trying to patch that gap.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#198

Post by avodonosov »

cybernautique wrote: post #155
avodonosov wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why this should be exactly microkernel?

Perhaps it needn't be; I, with my negligible OS dev experience, just like microkernel architectures better. It seems more sensible to have microkernels managed by a microkernel loader. This might be an opinion I come to recant in time. The core of my position is that Microsoft needs to stop doing Microsoft things if they want to be taken seriously as a good faith actor, but I'm not holding my breath. Until they make…

Providing POSIX and Linux-specific APIs does actually place them into Linux ecosystem.

Programs bult for Linux suddenly can be run for Windows users. That's a boost in adoption potential for Linux programs (large part of the ecosystem). And adoption is very impotant for further development and success of software.

On the other hand, for Linux users this makes Windows more attractive - why not choose Windows for your next laptop, if all your Linux software runs there. That undermines Linux userbase.

But overall, I feel WSL is good for Linux.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#199

Post by reilly3000 »

gigel82 wrote: post #195
reilly3000 wrote: post #31

I wonder what Linux exclusive software they are hoping to support. Everything I use in my Ubuntu daily driver has a Windows build or corollary app. I get how ‘you never have to leave Windows’ is a nice thing for their business, but I don’t see this being a reason I would stop dual-booting. The only reason I run windows in the first place is for a few apps, mostly games. Otherwise I really enjoy the bloat-free, ad-fre…

IIRC, they were primarily interested in getting GPU acceleration (for ML tasks) to work in WSL2. I presume getting GUI working on top of those GPU APIs was a trivial task (and maybe done by one of their interns or during a hackathon).

That sounds like the killer app. GPU passthru can be an absolutely gnarly undertaking with any virtualization system.

Re: Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI

#200

Post by gobookdev »

gigel82 wrote: post #195
reilly3000 wrote: post #31

I wonder what Linux exclusive software they are hoping to support. Everything I use in my Ubuntu daily driver has a Windows build or corollary app. I get how ‘you never have to leave Windows’ is a nice thing for their business, but I don’t see this being a reason I would stop dual-booting. The only reason I run windows in the first place is for a few apps, mostly games. Otherwise I really enjoy the bloat-free, ad-fre…

IIRC, they were primarily interested in getting GPU acceleration (for ML tasks) to work in WSL2. I presume getting GUI working on top of those GPU APIs was a trivial task (and maybe done by one of their interns or during a hackathon).

Anyone could already do it with a few lines of code.

Edit: Seems people don't believe me, here's an article how to do it: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-dev-appconsul...

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