Microsoft Is Trying To Make Windows Subsystem For Linux Faster (WSL)

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Blobs mostly. But in one case it was an off-tree kernel module patch that I could either build without headers using my own distro or use the Windows/Ubuntu thingy that had headers readily available. Also, Android SDK isn't available in many distros and is a bitch to get going and compiling stuff for your phone on anything not Ubuntu. Gradle stuff is especially a hoot...

Still not seeing anything that would force you to use Windows... Sounds like you're just making excuses for sticking to Windows.

Lenovo Yoga 710 was just last year. And there are plenty of shitty low-end nearly generic tablets and laptops that won't run linux. The Atoms especially standout. And there's the BayTrails... https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=109051

Says that bay trail issue, which are sold as atoms and not separate like you try to make it look like, affects kernels 3.16-4.2 when 4.3 came out in June of last year. Even if they haven't fixed the problem, it's not like you can't check ahead to see if something doesn't have proper Linux drivers. The recent Atom/Bay Trail stuff in general seems to have been made specifically for Windows 8 tablets so it's probably to be expected that Intel can't be bothered to support those chips under Linux.

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You should definitely try Archlinux

Personally I use the AUR plenty but that specific tool-chain wasn't available at the time. Regardless, I often build .debs and .rpms for production and don't get to tell clients what to run on their servers.
Btw, for original linux development I prefer NixOS so long as something isn't missing. But in the end I often end up firing up an Ubuntu VM/machine and building packages there since that's the job.

Still not seeing anything that would force you to use Windows... Sounds like you're just making excuses for sticking to Windows.

I'm looking at a 16core testing server running NixOS (mirroring a 24core production machine) connected to OpenWRT switch and 6 *nix workstations (Arch, Ubuntu LTS, Debian, Red Hat... And a dozen or so VMs as well...) and a couple of windows machines just in my house. I don't need an excuse to keep a few windows machines for testing. It's my job.

There's also SBCs, FreeBSD and OpenBSD boxes... A year ago there was a RasPi running plan9 for some reason... I also do coreboot ports so I often end up with multiple copies of a single board never really leaving the test bench.

Says that bay trail issue, which are sold as atoms and not separate like you try to make it look like, affects kernels 3.16-4.2 when 4.3 came out in June of last year.

It's still broken with recent kernels.

Even if they haven't fixed the problem, it's not like you can't check ahead to see if something doesn't have proper Linux drivers...Intel can't be bothered to support those chips under Linux.

Between printers, EEPROM flash programmers, certain WiFi basebands and 3G bundles, specific Intel processor families and the likes, I've seen a lot of hardware not being supported on Linux over the years. And while I can (and do) go back to the shop and replace the part, many people can't. For them, Linux on Windows is a legitimate option.

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I don't need an excuse to keep a few windows machines for testing. It's my job.

Yet here you are making up excuses for doing Linux development on windows...

Between printers, EEPROM flash programmers, certain WiFi basebands and 3G bundles, specific Intel processor families and the likes, I've seen a lot of hardware not being supported on Linux over the years. And while I can (and do) go back to the shop and replace the part, many people can't. For them, Linux on Windows is a legitimate option.

Sure, I too can talk about having run into machines like Amigas that don't run Linux all that well, but talk about support for legacy hardware years ago is not exactly relevant in a contemporary context. Even the bay trail relevancy is in question seeing how the windows 8 tablets they were used on were only made for as long as Intel kept literally just giving away chips to hardware makers and as soon as that ended the sales and demand for the things vanished practically overnight.

Also, looking things up beforehand is hardly too difficult for people. If it is, then these people probably ought to consider downgrading from a computer back to a typewriter or something.

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Yet here you are making up excuses for doing Linux development on windows...

Not sure what there's to excuse here. People just do what they need to get the job done. Most boards get developed on proprietary cad software. 99% of Android devs never once booted linux on bare metal. Lots of linux devs never run linux desktop and are strictly server and embedded people... Lots of devs just aren't competent enough in system administration to manage compiler stacks. So if VMs and these ubuntu-on-windows thing helps, then all the better.

s not exactly relevant in a contemporary context.

I'm talking about recent wan, 3g and printer drivers here.

Also, looking things up beforehand is hardly too difficult for people. If it is, then these people probably ought to consider downgrading from a computer back to a typewriter or something.

They don't have the qualifications to determine what works best with what software. Believe or not, most devs aren't linux competent enough to even install Debian. They specialize in algorithmic math and language skills at the expense of system administration and general systems knowledge. Even GNU has members that end up asking folks at the mailing list for help. If a single fresh-out-of-uni dev picks up gcc over visual studio to do their prototyping because it's there then it's of value to the rest of us.

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Not sure what there's to excuse here. People just do what they need to get the job done. Most boards get developed on proprietary cad software. 99% of Android devs never once booted linux on bare metal. Lots of linux devs never run linux desktop and are strictly server and embedded people... Lots of devs just aren't competent enough in system administration to manage compiler stacks. So if VMs and these ubuntu-on-windows thing helps, then all the better.

Talking about android and other embedded systems is more than a bit disingenuous when they follow a development model where you first run your code in an emulator, often part of a proprietary development kit, and then cross compile to the target hardware. When you're cross compiling you're not going to be running the exact system you're developing for anyway, but Microsoft's Linux layer is not intended for this. The thing is intended for developing Linux applications on the architecture it's actually run on with the same support libraries and because of that it's really not much else than a crutch for people forced to develop on Linux when they're completely incompetent on the platform.

Also, if you can't do even basic system administration or manage a compiler stack you probably shouldn't be doing work that involves doing/using those things. It's kind of like being a delivery driver when you don't know how to drive. No point in keeping people who don't know and worse yet are incapable of learning something new because if they don't know or can/want to learn these things you can be sure they can't/won't learn a bunch of other important things.

I'm talking about recent wan, 3g and printer drivers here.

Funny how I haven't had any issues with any of those... Maybe you've just been a bit unlucky?

They don't have the qualifications to determine what works best with what software. Believe or not, most devs aren't linux competent enough to even install Debian. They specialize in algorithmic math and language skills at the expense of system administration and general systems knowledge. Even GNU has members that end up asking folks at the mailing list for help. If a single fresh-out-of-uni dev picks up gcc over visual studio to do their prototyping because it's there then it's of value to the rest of us.

Man do you work with a lot of very incompetent devs when you keep making general statements like that... Because the few ones that I've worked with and were that incompetent with things like basic system administration were just all round incompetent. Even most of those who didn't have much experience with Linux were generally able to learn it as they went along meaning that the only penalty we suffered was that things took a bit longer. The thing about GCC is that it's an open source project developed in the open so unlike proper jobs, there isn't a selection/filtering process before being "hired" and nobody really gets fired.

Maybe you've been working with too many computer science graduates? Being incompetent at those things of things is supposedly pretty common with them due to how the degree is really just an applied maths degree that people still incorrectly treat as a software development degree.