Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Links

Disclaimer!

I am not a Windows expert. Although I have written a Kernel driver (PCI, DMA, tons of interrupts) in the past that runs equally stable on both Linux (did that first) and Windows (ported the Linux implementation to Doze), I tend to keep my fingers away because I know my enemy.

This document is a rather half hearted approach to guiding people through working for Linux on Windows. Follow the links below - so much for guidance (the rest of the document is very opinionated 🤨).

Main entry point: Windows Subsystem for Linux Documentation

Please browse the site to find what you need, or use the following table to solve dedicated problems.

Installation	Install WSL
Sharing files across Windows and Linux	Working across Windows and Linux file systems Long story short: If your files are stored in Windows, say C:\Users\<user name>\Project, in Linux you say $ ls -l /mnt/c/Users/<user name>/Project If your files are stored in WSL distribution Ubuntu, say in directory /home/<user name>/Project, in Windows you can see them in \\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\<user name>\Project

More Links

• Set up a WSL development environment

• Get started using Visual Studio Code with Windows Subsystem for Linux

My $0.02

People ever wanted to develop on Linux [1] - but it has never been easy to make a living from it. Anyway, times are changing: Linux development has gained a commercial side as more and more devices run Linux and a lot of companies are making good money with Linux development. Many of these companies are addicted to Windows (who can imagine leading a life without Outlook? Teams?), and it has proved hard to work for Linux on a (company-rules-dicdated 🥷) Windows machine.

M$ has finally acknowledged that fighting Linux does not make sense.

It is, in this light, very respectful from Microsoft to help people out as much as they can [2].

WSL, Finally

WSL is a good thing. If I had to, I’d appreciate that I could just say (but not without opening a command window first),

wsl --install

This innocent looking command installs a virtualized Ubuntu Linux inside Windows, and provides mostly seamless integration with it.

Alternatives are:

• A full virtual machine like VirtualBox or VMWare

• Jumping through hoops (sorry guys) with MinGW or Cygwin

Footnotes

[1]

Fun can be had there; I tend to have fun when I understand things (clear concepts for exampke) which is not easy on Windows.

[2]

I suppose the motivation is not pure altruism though.