Microsoft Publishes WSL Preview Inside the Windows 11 Store

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Microsoft Publishes WSL Preview Inside the Windows 11 Store

Those running Microsoft's recently released Windows 11 will now be able to find the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) available from within the Microsoft Store for easier setting up of this Linux-based environment...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Microsoft-Windows-11-WSL-Store

[pkese]

Next year will be the year of Linux on desktop.

[pkese]

But seriously...
Microsoft is admitting that Windows is not an attractive development platform and that they need to offer Linux for devs to stay around.

Web development is on Linux, backend development is on Linux, cloud (including most of Azure) is on Linux, data mining on GPU is on Linux.

Windows is going to become a sort of Ubuntu with more UI polish.

[onlyLinuxLuvUBack]

Wow, what nice guys micro$oft :P
They are starting to make more and more stuff only available through their store something no one asked for but a more apple move.

The evil software list grows:
artrage,
wsl,
adobe *,

[tildearrow]

Next year will be the year of Linux on desktop.

More like the year of Linux on Windows...


For the Year of the Linux desktop to happen, the following has to be done:
- Valve has to release Steam Deck
- Steam Deck has to be successful, hopefully introducing users to KDE
- GNOME has to realize that it is not for normal users accustomed to Windows (majority)
- Developers have to stop relying on GitHub's release page which is confusing for the end user and start making proper project download pages
- The inner part of the userland (systemd, PipeWire/PulseAudio, DKMS, X11/Wayland) has to be slightly hidden from the end user
- These holy wars need to stop and either Wayland be fixed or accept X11
- Proper desktop multi-user (e.g. promiscuous PulseAudio)
- *.sh scripts should be executed by double clicking on the file manager no matter what, just like under Windows when clicking *.bat files
- Pay a LOT of attention to the developer of AppImage format, and make every other dev start packaging in AppImage format
- Introduce OptApp (my own proposal): macOS-like app structure. /opt has 777 permissions and it contains AppDirs (and remains compatible with applications that already use /opt)
- Stop these additional holy wars on Flatpak, Snap and AppImage. The former two are mobile-style while the latter is desktop-style and proper
- NVIDIA please get your s together and stop attacking the Linux ecosystem
- AMD improve your driver stability which is lottery right now
- Linearize the steep learning curve of Linux by making everything possible without a terminal (YaST is a very good proof of concept!)
- Microsoft Office for Linux, even if it is a commercial product
- After seeing that more users are enthusiastic about Linux, Valve should start pushing PC manufacturers to install KDE based distros out of the box, or make it an option (e.g. openSUSE!)
- Linux PC sales increase

[cl333r]

Microsoft is admitting that Windows is not an attractive development platform and that they need to offer Linux for devs to stay around.

I don't take it as admitting to anything, just that Linux tends to dominate in non-desktop use cases and Microsoft is trying to make it easy for devs to interact.
Maybe also an embrace-extend-extinguish game like they did to Java like 20 years ago.

[pkese]

Maybe also an embrace-extend-extinguish game like they did to Java like 20 years ago.

Nah. That was Sun suing Microsoft for trying to improve on Java (early Java was a big pile of crap - I happened to be programming that shit in late 1990-ies).
In the end they came up with dotnet, which is technically Java with a few less technical mistakes (after fiddling with java for some years, they were in position where they could afford a fresh start, however with enough experience that they knew what needed fixing).

But still ... dotnet wouldn't exist if Sun wouldn't have sued.

[kpedersen]

from within the Microsoft Store for easier setting up of this Linux-based environment.

The words "Microsoft Store" and "easier" are mutually exclusive.

You first have to create a temporary Windows VM, make yet another throwaway account. Grab the files. Make a deterministic backup, blow away the "soiled" VM and then install on a clean (firewalled and WinStore disabled) machine.

[S.Pam]

Also, the Windows store is not working when you're on VPN. At least my VPN is blocked by it =(

[skeevy420]

It's funny. Two or three years ago when I returned to Windows 10 after 15 years away I really enjoyed the KDE-like experience it had (with Open Shell, of course). Windows 11 with its GNOME using plugins to be crappy KDE experience made me dislike Windows again. The only things I actually need Windows for are the programs to configure my rudder and flight stick since, AFAIK, there aren't Linux versions. I can do that from a VM so, for the most part, it's bye, bye Windows thanks to Valve and the Steam Deck giving others the motivation to release Linux versions of anti-cheat.

Windows and Microsoft can advertise all this Linux on Windows stuff but it's like, "We can run y'all's shit over here with all sorts of wonderful projects. Why don't y'all mosey over yonder and rightly piss off." Less and less reasons every day to not have to run yet another spyware OS.

I'm sure this is nice for people who need it. I thought it was great on 10 as a way to mount ZFS and other Linux volumes. Unfortunately, the more and more I used Linux tools on the terminal on Windows the more and more I wanted the rest of my tools back in a proper Linux shell (KDE Plasma). Like, it's just weird not having Yakuake an F12 away.