Live data from Hacker News

Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

github.com

81–90 of 163 posts

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#81

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…

https://github.com/turbo/alwsl/blob/master/alwsl.bat#L307 - it's a squashfs filesystem which is unpacked to replace the Ubuntu filesystem that WSL uses by default.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#82
post #79
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind scenarios do you find it useful in? I.e. when would you use it instead of native Linux for the same purpose?

I'm really excited about WSL: My laptop: Gets 6 hours w/ windows. My Desktop: Not having to manage dual-booting between Gaming & Hobby-Time programming... Being able to hack on python/node and deploy to my Pi, play a game of Overwatch, then working again. If power management was something that I didn't have to spend hours to get right, I probably wouldn't be so dreamy-eyed over WSL... But they just finally figured ou…

> But they just finally figured out how to support Video Card Switching (Prime) after 5 years

Prime exists for a while. I suppose you mean closed Nvidia driver only now starting to support standard features. That's Nvidia's problem, not Linux problem really.

> play a game of Overwatch, then working again.

I get it, though I simply skip games that don't work on Linux. And I'm not interested in supporting a company with dismissive attitude towards Linux gamers either[1].

1. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/president-of-blizzard...

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#83
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't know why you were downvoted without explanation If past conversations on reddit are anything to go by it's because a lot of people don't want to recognize that WSL is essentially a VM. Docker too for that matter.

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. The way WSL is implemented is actually really interesting. Linux syscalls are translated by an NT kernel driver and some other shims handle the NTFS->POSIX transition on the filesystem side.

> 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 is very little difference between WSL and a VM.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#84
post #38
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't pick up many hints that they were using Linux purely because FOSS, that seems like a projection?; personally I went entirely Linux because I'm fond of the nearly infinitely granular controls I can make over the UI and UX (plus a few system level things) that I can share with others, get improvements on and reiterate into my daily use. Perhaps there's a similar trend here to the user you're responding to; I a…

Aside from the other comment where I hope I pointed out the reasoning.. The "Betray Open Source" bit. You might be right that there is some projection. I've been working on a project for quite some time now, without any pay and it is close to completion, and I more and more frequently reflect on how it should be positioned, marketed and ultimately generate some revenue so that I can actually afford my own apartment.…

> FOSS is great when you have enough cash stashed to not give a damn or you are just doing it as a hobby.

FOSS companies make money by selling services, not software. Sometimes lots of it, and they're laughing all the way to the bank. FOSS also means "I can try it out in my own time, and not be hassled by sales staff or have to jump through hoops to get a trial", not to mention "I can tweak certain bits to better match my stuff".

I use Windows for games, because 'right tool for the right job', and the most polished games are on Windows. However, there is not a hope in hell that I'd use Windows for my day job - the one that keeps me fed and housed. Random (and LONG) forced update restarts. Broken/empty "click here for more info". Difficult to get at the system for troubleshooting. High minimum requirements. The list goes on and on. And even working as a dumb end user, I can't reskin the desktop anymore!

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this, works great. Get >95% of native perf out of my GTX1070.

You need to run separate GPUs to achieve this though don't you?

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, though.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#86
post #46
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside from the other comment where I hope I pointed out the reasoning.. The "Betray Open Source" bit. You might be right that there is some projection. I've been working on a project for quite some time now, without any pay and it is close to completion, and I more and more frequently reflect on how it should be positioned, marketed and ultimately generate some revenue so that I can actually afford my own apartment.…

I think everyone is a bit split on it. We realize how accessible and empowering open source software has made things, so there's a preference to encourage that. As a kid I was curious about Unix workstations, but knew they cost $30k and I wasn't going to get access to one unless it was a university or larger company shared with other people. Only a few years later Linux was released and today I could get a computer f…

> It sucks because someone who writes an amazing tool still has to come up with a whole other business in order to make income from it.

However, selling the software itself means you have to engage in a robust licensing system to defeat the pirates, which is no trivial feat (even mighty Adobe went online-as-a-service because they couldn't beat the pirates).

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#88
post #59
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Embrace, extend, extinguish. Although I'm guessing a few devs are in the boat with "all company PCs must be windows." Gives them an out no?

No this is not that. The idea is some frameworks/platforms have become nix first, ex. Ruby, Python to an extent Java etc. OCaml to only name some. Windows Subsytem for Linux is about bringing these nix first developer plats to Windows and help developers like me to remain on Windows.

This is precisely the strategy of 'Embrace, Extend, Extinguish'.

Step 1: Embrace new technology ( like Ruby, Python, Java etc ) that run on other ecosystems

Step 2: Add extensions to the technology that only works in Microsoft ecosystem. For example, add new functionality to Ruby for Windows that only work on Windows

Step 3: As more and more people develop software that uses these features, more people will have to switch to Microsoft ecosystem to continue using those pieces of software. This is not a voluntary switching based on the merit of the software ( as the same software could have been developed without those extensions ). The switching is often mandated by management decree, customer requests or market concerns.

The danger of this strategy is the cost for people outside the Microsoft ecosystem.

a) Bad pieces of technology becomes successful, merely because it came from Microsoft. Everyone is forced to use it.

b) People are locked into Microsoft platforms. This causes all the usual problems associated with lack of freedom : harder to experiment, keep the costs down for companies etc

Some people say Microsoft has changed their ways and they have since repented, but most people are still suspicious. Once bitten, twice shy.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct, but a LOT of developers today write code that eventually runs on Linux in the cloud. With WSL, such developers using Windows will not leave for OS X/Linux

Hmm, perhaps it's really a move against OS X. If you actually run Linux you're probably committed.

Keep in mind that Microsoft itself writes and/or maintains a lot of software for Linux - as you can imagine, WSL comes in very handy there.

Re: Arch Linux adapted for Windows Subsystem for Linux

#90
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. The way WSL is implemented is actually really interesting. Linux syscalls are translated by an NT kernel driver and some other shims handle the NTFS->POSIX transition on the filesystem side.

> 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…

It's not truly contained, though. There is no security boundary between the host and the guest there - WSL can access your entire filesystem, for example (subject to usual ACL checks, of course).

The reverse is also true, by the way - WSL portion of filesystem can be observed directly from Win32 (cd %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\lxss and look around, but don't touch - there's some magical pixie dust there that's easy to disturb and break things from the Linux side of things).

Post reply on HN