Ubuntu-WSL Package Offers Better Ubuntu Integration On Windows Subsystem For Linux

Canonical's Balint Reczey has announced the addition of a new ubuntu-wsl package that will be installed by default when running Ubuntu on Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in order to provide better integration.

Ubuntu is already the flagship Linux distribution available from the Microsoft Store for running on WSL/WSL2. With Ubuntu-WSL, this meta-package will ultimately enhance the experience for users. At the moment ubuntu-wsl pulls in wslu, a collection of utilities for Windows Subsystem for Linux. Those utilities make it easy to create a shortcut to Linux programs from the Windows 10 desktop, a screenshot tool, a tool to access Windows environment variables, a fake browser implementation to forward web requests to the default Windows browser, and other integration enhancements.

WSLU is developed separate from Canonical/Ubuntu and can be found on GitHub and works with numerous Linux distributions on WSL while now Canonical will be making it available by default for Ubuntu on WSL.

Beyond WSLU, this new ubuntu-wsl meta-package is said to be a target for more WSL features moving forward. More details on Balint's blog.

In related reading, Microsoft's Tara Raj wrote a Medium post yesterday on more background information on Linux/WSL for Windows.