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The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

blogs.windows.com

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Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#331

Post by zargon »

juancn wrote: post #318
jchw wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

Technically it's not a VM, it's a subsystem, the same way Win32, Win64, Posix, OS/2, etc. are. It's a feature of the NT-family of kernels where you can create many environments sharing the same underlying executive and HAL. It's a quite interesting way to build an OS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Windows_NT

WSL1 was a subsystem. WSL2 is mostly a VM.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#333

Post by lodovic »

baq wrote: post #154
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…

> I can't get a laptop that's on par with my M4 Pro. This is the only reason I have not requested a windows laptop from my company. WSL is better for docker development in basically every way than a mac can be (disclaimer: haven't tried orbstack yet, heard good things, but my base assumption is it can't be better than WSL2) except it is literally impossible to get hardware as good as the M3 or M4 for any other OS tha…

I replaced my m1 with a snapdragon laptop running Win11 and upgraded that to pro. For what I do with it, it runs great with very long battery times, for less than Apple quoted to repair the m1. I don't use the copilot features and haven't seen any ads so far, except maybe for office during setup.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#334

Post by zakki »

high_na_euv wrote: post #276
jchw wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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?

Methods I know are using qemu/Wine/proxmox/VirtualBox.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#335

Post by sssilver »

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".

I would say in my case it’s less about OCD and more about, inexplicably, dignity.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#336

Post by delduca »

nickserv wrote: post #244
jjcm wrote: post #151

When WSL came out I was absolutely overjoyed - finally an actual linux shell on windows! I use windows for my gaming pc, and I wanted to have a unified gaming/dev box. It felt like the solution. Over time though more and more small issues with it came up. Packages working not quite right, issues with the barriers between the two, etc. It always felt like there was a little bit more friction with the process. With Val…

Just curious, which games gave you problems?

For me, Red Dead Redemption 1 via Proton does not work on Pop_OS + NVIDIA.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#337

Post by oblio »

juancn wrote: post #318
jchw wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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…

Technically it's not a VM, it's a subsystem, the same way Win32, Win64, Posix, OS/2, etc. are. It's a feature of the NT-family of kernels where you can create many environments sharing the same underlying executive and HAL. It's a quite interesting way to build an OS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_of_Windows_NT

They had to give that up because it was too slow, I think for IO. Unfortunate.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#338

Post by fsflover »

alex_smart wrote: post #239
encom wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need new reasons to hate Linux, because all those issues were solved a while ago.

I don't need new reasons to hate Linux. Like I said, I have moved to macbooks as my personal computing device because of the better hardware. > solved a while ago Can not be the case because I was facing these issues less than a couple of years ago. I was responding to the "Stockholm syndrome" comment specifically because there are a number of hardware and software problems (e.g. https://jayfax.neocities.org/mediocri…

> Can not be the case because I was facing these issues less than a couple of years ago

Just like with Mac and Windows, you choose the supported hardware, and everything is flawless.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#339

Post by specproc »

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".

Advertising triggers a lot more than OCD in me outside of my start menu. On my machine, where I spend most of my waking hours, it was certainly the last straw for me.

But there's also the thing where Microsoft stops supporting older machines, creating a massive pile of insecure boxes and normie-generated e-waste; and the thing where it dials home constantly; and the thing where they try and force their browser on you, and the expensive and predatory software ecosystem, and the insane bloat, and the requiring a Microsoft account just to use my own computer. Oh yeah, and I gotta pay for this crap?!

I went full Linux back when Windows 11 came out and will only use it if a job requires. Utterly disgusting software.

Re: The Windows Subsystem for Linux is now open source

#340

Post by dboreham »

coconut08 wrote: post #18
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…

I don't understand. Docker/podman/distrobox/lxc all allow you to do the exact same thing without the virtual machine overhead. I think the real win of WSL is that its a best of all worlds. You get to use Windows with access to every game ever made plus all of the proprietary apps everyone needs to use, with all of the upside of having a full and complete linux command line experience.

with the virtual machine overhead.
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