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Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

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Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#141

Post by davrosthedalek »

e40 wrote: post #75
flukus wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Maybe I'm in the minority but I prefer keeping my GNU/Linux and Windows installations separate, with each OS on its own drive. That's essentially how the windows subsystem works. It might not technically be a VM, but practically it is.

Don't know why you were downvoted without explanation, because that's my understanding how this new feature works. Just like the Posix subsystem before it, completely cut off from the Win32 subsystem. So, yeah, it feels like it would be like a VM to me.

The main point is that it does not run a linux kernel.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#142

Post by JdeBP »

romanovcode wrote: post #121
sidegrid wrote: post #4

Care to explain what this is? FAQ = 404

Native linux subsystem for windows can run Ubuntu no problem. This "tool" gives you the option to run Arch instead of Ubuntu.

Others have already run Fedora.

* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/38802362/

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#143

Post by tremon »

noinsight wrote: post #104
flukus wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> WSL is definitely not a Virtual Machine, unless you're saying that WINE is also a VM, in which case you have a very broad definition of VM that's different from most other people. Wine runs on the host OS, WSL runs apps from linux image. This image is self contained, just like a VM. Aside from that, I said it's practically a VM. There might be some different technical stuff going on underneath, but for a user there…

> Wine runs on the host OS, WSL runs apps from linux image. This image is self contained, just like a VM. Actually (it's been a long time since I last used Wine though, so I might remember incorrectly), Wine is "self contained" as well and there's a "C: drive" directory structure with notepad.exe etc. too, just like the WSL system.

That's a very narrow definition of self-contained though. Wine does not implement its own filesystem operations, it uses the host's filesystem api to access host-native files. It doesn't even emulate a jail/chroot, because the host's / filesystem is by default accessible through Z:\

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#144

Post by icecreammatt »

insanebits wrote: post #114
CyberShadow wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not necessarily. I managed to get it working with a single GPU, by unbinding it from the host and binding it to the VM. Unfortunately it does mean that you have to stop X11 and all programs, and going back doesn't work (the GPU freezes the machine when the proprietary NVIDIA driver loads), but it's still better than dual-booting because background services continue to run. It certainly is easier with separate GPUs, t…

You can always have multiple VM's with gpu passthrough, so it's almost like dual boot kind of setup, but you can still run other things on the host. It works pretty well for me, only downside being that you're limited to single VM running at the time.

You can run multiple VM's at the same time as long as you have a separate GPU to assign for each VM. There are videos on Youtube of people demoing this.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#145

Post by icecreammatt »

colemickens wrote: post #74
unexistance wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

google keyword : GPU passthrough https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/3lno0t/gpu_pa...

Thanks! I've read up since the last post. Now I'm trying to decide if I can live without SLI.

The guide linked above was the same one I used. Honestly it took me quite a while to get it all working. I had to buy a separate soundcard since I wasn't able to get the one on the motherboard to pass through the audio correctly without static noise in it. Once I got the HTC Vive I ended up just going back to a dedicated Windows install and built a separate machine just for Linux stuff. Saved me lots of headache.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#146

Post by opello »

Longhanks wrote: post #3

This pulls something from https://cdn.turbo.run/alwsl/alwsl.sfs - what's this URL? How can anyone tell this is related to Arch Linux? Why do the readmes link to 404s? All of this seems rather unfinished. Could have polished at least the github presence a little. Also, what are the advantages compared to solution like https://github.com/RoliSoft/WSL-Distribution-Switcher , which allows selecting different distribution…

I was curious how the squashfs was generated too but didn't find anything describing it.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#147

Post by aruggirello »

ericfrederich wrote: post #134
mrweasel wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would prefer it the other way around: Having a good Windows subsystem in Linux. If however I'm to work on Windows, it's nice to know that I'll finally be able to have access to a functional shell.

I like the approach here; different than WINE. Apparently WinNT was built all along to run applications for different OSs at the same time, like OS/2. They didn't try to implement all of userspace, just the system calls... a lot less to cover. Very cool project.

Yeah, easy. But AFAIK, unfortunately Wine could not just reimplement the Windows Kernel interface, since Windows DLLs are subject to copyright (so you need permission to redistribute them, guess by whom?), and lots of them are needed for a "working" system. That's why they set out to also create a full set of compatible DLLs for each subsystem instead - a monumental task involving reverse-engineering [often poorly documented] stuff, and reimplementing the thing [possibly without infringing any patents]...

BTW Wine is approaching release 2.0. Hooray for Wine!

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#149

Post by mcsofake »

reddytowns wrote: post #118
_qbjt wrote: post #43

Maybe I'm in the minority but I prefer keeping my GNU/Linux and Windows installations separate, with each OS on its own drive. My Linux setup is secure, free of proprietary software and under my full control. When I run tcpdump, I'm met with a clean log where every packet is one I recognize. I get to use my favorite window manager (awesomewm) and I don't have to worry about forced updates. My Windows install is quite…

If you're not using secure boot* and an encrypted Linux partition you are not secure. (*Or a boot loader on a separate USB drive which is never plugged in while running Windows)

I don't think that will help. Windows can patch the bootloader to cache the encryption password. Since Microsoft controls the secure boot signing keys, they can sign the patched bootloader too, so even secure boot cannot protect you. Having the bootloader on a USB drive is probably a good idea though.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#150

Post by mcsofake »

mikegerwitz wrote: post #132
_qbjt wrote: post #43

Maybe I'm in the minority but I prefer keeping my GNU/Linux and Windows installations separate, with each OS on its own drive. My Linux setup is secure, free of proprietary software and under my full control. When I run tcpdump, I'm met with a clean log where every packet is one I recognize. I get to use my favorite window manager (awesomewm) and I don't have to worry about forced updates. My Windows install is quite…

> Maybe I'm in the minority but I prefer keeping my GNU/Linux and Windows installations separate, with each OS on its own drive. Consider full disk encryption on the GNU/Linux drive as well, since Windows can still access the disk.

I don't think that will help. After all Windows can patch the bootloader to cache the encryption password too. Even secure boot won't protect you since Microsoft has the signing keys.
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