Microsoft Promotes Windows Subsystem For Linux "WSL" To GA Status

[BrokenAnsible]

While it's always nice to see increased Linux usage, having this tucked away inside Windows means even less incentive for corporation desktops to switch over to a bare-metal setup.

In the end, Microsoft's embrace mentality always turns out to be a winning strategy for them, unfortunately...

I am not sure about that. I was running WSL 2 on Windows 10 on my work PC. We recently migrated ADs and that meant for me, my username changed. Guess what? It wiped out my WSL installation because it was tied to the user and ./AppData/Local/Packages/~Ubuntu22~/LocalState folder that has the ext4 file is was there anymore. Backing your WSL 2 is not trivial as it was in WSL 1 so you need to schedule rsync on your WSL 2 install (home and app configs) through the Task Scheduler in windows and do any database data backups individually using their raw data dump tools.

I just don't think enterprise is ready for WSL 2 just yet. It is nice to be able to use this 100% but each developer is an island and the enterprise isn't into supporting that kind of thing.... yet if ever.

[ll1025]

If WSL2 is a hypervisor, you could install and boot any kernel available in a distro repository.

That does not follow. AWS EC2 uses the Xen hypervisor but you can't just go grab a kernel or iso and boot it.

It literally uses and requires the Windows Hypervisor Platform. Here's a bug report complaining that you can no longer see processes from within the WSL2 process because they're all housed under vmmem.exe (a hyper-v component). it literally fires up hyper-v executables when running.

Some choice quotes from actual developers who use it:

If a Linux process is slowing my machine down or using too many resources, I won't be able to see it in Task Manager. Instead I have to run an additional process inside the Linux VM ... to see what the process is....Right now I just have to see it's not a Windows process in Task Manager, jump into the Linux VM and wait for htop or top or similar to start

In the Windows Task Manager, if your distro in WSL is using a lot of CPU in general, you will see vmmem.exe using a lot of CPU - that is basically WSL.

And, if you don't believe them (or the hundreds of other comments confirming it is all virtualized), here's microsoft on the topic:

The newest version of WSL uses Hyper-V architecture to enable its virtualization. This architecture will be available in the 'Virtual Machine Platform' optional component.

Some 3rd party applications cannot work when Hyper-V is in use, which means they will not be able to run when WSL 2 is enabled, such as VMware and VirtualBox.

-- This references older versions that do not use the windows API that allows them to leverage hyperv for interop

And if you really need the difference between WSL1 and 2 spelled out, a handy table:

image.png

But you go ahead and argue with people who use it and people who wrote it, your zero experience with it surely makes you an expert.

[Artim]

dont bother replying to him, he is either a troll or likely suffers from some strong mental disability to make such absurd claims about something he knows nothing about it.

why "or"? "and" is the solution.

[Quackdoc]

Just because it's not a general purpose hypervisor doesn't mean it is none. But to be precise, WSL2 itself isn't really the hypervisor, but Hyper-V. Doesn't change the fact that WSL2 does run on a Linux kernel though.

You can't but just any kernel in WSL2 as you can't boot just any kernel on an ARM device (especially an Android phone) that's not explicitly supported, because in both cases you miss some adaptations to be able to do so. Doesn't mean both are still running a Linux kernel.

dont bother replying to him, he is either a troll or likely suffers from some strong mental disability to make such absurd claims about something he knows nothing about it.

[Artim]

If WSL2 is a hypervisor, you could install and boot any kernel available in a distro repository. All I see for the moment doesn(t permit this possibility.
It's not because there's faw calls to a hypervisor library that WSL2 is a hypervisor.

A french artist said : « A psychotic is someone who firmly believes that 2 and 2 equals 5, and who is completely satisfied with it. A neurotic is someone who knows full well that 2 and 2 make 4, and that makes him sick ! »

Just because it's not a general purpose hypervisor doesn't mean it is none. But to be precise, WSL2 itself isn't really the hypervisor, but Hyper-V. Doesn't change the fact that WSL2 does run on a Linux kernel though.

You can't but just any kernel in WSL2 as you can't boot just any kernel on an ARM device (especially an Android phone) that's not explicitly supported, because in both cases you miss some adaptations to be able to do so. Doesn't mean both are still running a Linux kernel.

[TNZfr]

Dude's just spitting facts. I'm not sure why that has to get political. WSL2 is a hypervisor and uses a legit Linux kernel, WSL1 uses abstraction / emulation / rewrites / whatever you want to call it.

If WSL2 is a hypervisor, you could install and boot any kernel available in a distro repository. All I see for the moment doesn(t permit this possibility.
It's not because there's faw calls to a hypervisor library that WSL2 is a hypervisor.

A french artist said : « A psychotic is someone who firmly believes that 2 and 2 equals 5, and who is completely satisfied with it. A neurotic is someone who knows full well that 2 and 2 make 4, and that makes him sick ! »

[ll1025]

Ok, you're a MS guy.

Dude's just spitting facts. I'm not sure why that has to get political. WSL2 is a hypervisor and uses a legit Linux kernel, WSL1 uses abstraction / emulation / rewrites / whatever you want to call it.

[Artim]

that's fair, im quite lucky that I dont have much needs other then light enough and can turn of the dgpu

If I could just build my dream laptop, those would be requirements too (dGPUs are expensive, but I can't say if I will need to run e.g. simulations, that can benefit from a powerful GPU in the next 10 years), but since that's sadly not a reality (yet), I have to prioritize. At least since (hopefully) all half-decent Laptops will have USB 4 either way, at least it's possible to use external GPUs. I don't think I'll have to do that much simulation on the go, so that would be a solution, as I currently don't see the need for a desktop PC.

[Artim]

Ok, you're a MS guy.

So it makes you a Microsoft guy if you simply state facts? Hope not...

[TNZfr]

blabla ....
So shut up and listen, WSL2 uses a Linux kernel.

Ok, you're a MS guy.