The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source • Hacker News Board

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#271

Post by bsnnkv » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:48 PM UTC

randunel wrote: post #254

bsnnkv wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've yet to find anything comparable feature-wise on Linux - and they all come with the huge downside of having to roll your own cohesive settings widget ecosystem for basic everyday things like WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. I run Cosmic Epoch on my old Macbook which is better, but again, feature-wise, it's just not comparable for serious work.

Thanks for your reply, but as a Linux user for over 20 years, all I take away from your post is that you haven't really tried, probably because the variety of distros vastly exceeds the two classic options of mac vs windows. I understand the "roll your own" argument very well. In my time, I've experienced quite the variety of configs and dotfiles, but I'm not young anymore so I've settled with using Regolith which is…

> Thanks for your reply, but as a Linux user for over 20 years, all I take away from your post is that you haven't really tried, probably because the variety of distros vastly exceeds the two classic options of mac vs windows.

A very big and very incorrect assumption. This reads like you asked the initial question without any actual curiosity behind it.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#272

Post by Foxboron » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:49 PM UTC

Firehawke wrote: post #52

wkat4242 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Want FreeBSD or Windows? Nope! Well, it is windows subsystem for Linux :) not windows subsystem for windows or FreeBSD for that matter :) Ps I wonder if you can make your own image? After all its really just Hyper-V with some config candy.

It's a bit more than just some candy, there's substantial glue on both the Linux/Windows sides to get Plan9, WSLG, and the other components to work. That said, the kernel they distribute is open source and you're not limited to just the distros they're working with directly. There are a number of third party (e.g. there's no Arch from Arch or Microsoft, but there's a completely compatible third party package that giv…

>e.g. there's no Arch from Arch or Microsoft, but there's a completely compatible third party package that gives you Arch in WSL2

No longer true since last month.

https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/arch-dev-public@li...

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#273

Post by 1oooqooq » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:50 PM UTC

blindstitch wrote: post #132

I would love if the bug(s) with working on the windows filesystem from within wsl could now be fixed. https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/discussions/9412#discussion...

Microsoft too.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#274

Post by zymhan » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

jchw wrote: post #56

elif wrote: post #7

Every time I praise WSL on hn I pay the karma tax but I will die on this hill. WSL is more powerful than Linux because of how easy it is to run multiple OS on the same computer simultaneously. It's as powerful as Linux with some janky custom local docker wrappers for device support, local storage mapping, and network mapping. Except it's not janky at all. It's an absolute delight to use, out of the box, on a desktop…

"More powerful than Linux" is silly. It's a VM. The most useful thing is that it does a bunch of convenience features for you. I am not suggesting that it is not extremely convenient, but it's not somehow more powerful than just using Linux. You know what's even more convenient than a VM? Not needing a VM and still having the exact same functionality. And you don't need a bunch of janky wrapper scripts, there's more…

The integration between Windows and the WSL VM is far deeper than a typical VM hypervisor.

You cannot claim with a straight face that Virtualbox is easier to use.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#275

Post by internet_rand0 » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:53 PM UTC

elif wrote: post #7

Every time I praise WSL on hn I pay the karma tax but I will die on this hill. WSL is more powerful than Linux because of how easy it is to run multiple OS on the same computer simultaneously. It's as powerful as Linux with some janky custom local docker wrappers for device support, local storage mapping, and network mapping. Except it's not janky at all. It's an absolute delight to use, out of the box, on a desktop…

[dead]

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#276

Post by high_na_euv » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:54 PM UTC

jchw wrote: post #56

elif wrote: post #7

Every time I praise WSL on hn I pay the karma tax but I will die on this hill. WSL is more powerful than Linux because of how easy it is to run multiple OS on the same computer simultaneously. It's as powerful as Linux with some janky custom local docker wrappers for device support, local storage mapping, and network mapping. Except it's not janky at all. It's an absolute delight to use, out of the box, on a desktop…

"More powerful than Linux" is silly. It's a VM. The most useful thing is that it does a bunch of convenience features for you. I am not suggesting that it is not extremely convenient, but it's not somehow more powerful than just using Linux. You know what's even more convenient than a VM? Not needing a VM and still having the exact same functionality. And you don't need a bunch of janky wrapper scripts, there's more…

So, how you run Windows on Linux like WSL does?

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#277

Post by pathartl » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:55 PM UTC

KingOfCoders wrote: post #212

thewebguyd wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can accomplish the same with Distrobox on Linux, but there's definitely something to be said about having the best of both worlds by running Windows + WSL. I honestly think Microsoft could win back some mind share from Apple if they: * Put out a version of windows without all the crap. Call it Dev edition or something and turn off or down the telemetry, preinstalled stuff, ads, and Copilot. * Put some effort into…

(Used 15ys OSX, now Win11) The biggest difference between OSX and Windows is, Apple adds (some say steal) functionality from competition, and open source. They make it neat. On windows to have something working, you need a WezTerm, Everything for search, Windhawk for a vertical taskbar on the right, Powertoys for an app starter, Folder Size for disc management etc. If you spend a lot of time, Win11 can be ok to work…

Maybe just for your specific preferences. Terminal is plenty fine. Vertical taskbar on the right is straight up user preference. PowerToys for an app starter? Like Alfred? The start search does a decent enough job of that. Folder Size is nice, but enumerating all files is very taxing.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#278

Post by jacobr1 » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:56 PM UTC

lolinder wrote: post #267

ActorNightly wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah if you are working with Linux only, its better to go full linux. WSL2 is really handy when you want to run other software though. For example, I use Solidworks, so I need to run windows. Forscan for Ford vehicles also has to run under Windows. Having WSL2 means that I can just have one laptop and run any software that I want.

In the same spirit if "it depends", there are other options that may work for people with different Linux/Windows balance points: * Wine is surprisingly good these days for a lot of software. If you only have an app or two that need Windows it is probably worth trying Wine to see if it meets your needs. * Similarly, if gaming is your thing Valve has made enormous strides in getting the majority of games to work flawl…

And you also can just run a windows VM when needed for a few apps if that works for your use case.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#279

Post by lxgr » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:57 PM UTC

phendrenad2 wrote: post #251

lxgr wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, the best part of running Linux as the base OS is not having to deal with Windows. No ridiculous start menu spam; a sane, non-bloated operating system (imagine being able to update user space libraries without a reboot, due to being able to delete files that other processes still have opened!); being able to back up my data at the file level without relying on weird block-level imaging shenanigans and so much…

I have a theory that 99.9% of preferring Windows or Linux comes down to "do ads in the start menu trigger my OCD".

It runs much deeper than that for me.

Windows at its core just does not seem like a serious operating system to me. Whenever there are two ways to do something, its developers seem to have picked the non-reasonable one compared to Unix – and doing that for decades adds up.

But yes, first impressions undoubtedly matter too.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#280

Post by jleyank » Mon, May 19, 2025, 6:57 PM UTC

jcranmer wrote: post #141

jleyank wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL, but how is this license different from, say, the older BSD license - thought that was "have fun, do what you want, post a notice"? It doesn't say anything regarding ownership of changes, nor how to add copyright for such changes... Does this mean that MS is looking to own changes, or will there be a string of extra copyright notices for each (significant?) change?

The MIT license scrunches the first two clauses of the 3-clause BSD license into a single clause, and omits the third clause (the nonendorsement clause, which is already generally implied). As a practical matter, most of the basic "simple" open source licenses are functionally identical.

But who owns the copyright to changes, and how is it recorded? I just am suspicious as to what or how large companies who sell/rent software deal with open-source, free stuff...