I tried to get the *arr stack running on it at one point, using Docker.
Do not do this. Just install the Windows apps. Yes, it’s a mess. Yes, they work.
it’s a unix system on top of a windows system; i know this!
We don’t talk about
Brunothe Microsoft POSIX subsystemYo dawg…
Look what they have to do to mimic a fraction of our power
Look what they have to do to mimic a fraction of our power
I think that sounds more like Cygwin.
I still don’t know what WSL is for.
Run Linux stuff on Windows.
A big use case is development with Docker containers.
Thanks - I can kind of see that, as docker on windows is majorly broken. I think I’d just run it in a linux vm, as I do with most of my developing, but I can see some might not want that overhead.
To keep developers on the platform, because their own ecosystem is shit.
Honestly if it frees me from MinGW I would be happy
Serious answer,
Windows subsystem for Linux.
I do know what it is, I just don’t know why you’d use it instead of proper linux, or a vm.
Bad management
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Subsystem_for_Linux
Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a component of Microsoft Windows that allows the use of a GNU/Linux environment from within Windows, foregoing the overhead of a virtual machine and being an alternative to dual booting.
Them tryna suck us back into their dysfunctional os, not gonna work on me Mr Micro
Born to Gentoo+i3, forced (by work) to WSL
What if… WSL is a gateway drug to Arch?
Don’t do drugs, kids!
WSL is just a chroot running under Windows.
When using WSL, be sure to not mention anything about that when reporting bugs because that’ll just confuse the issue for the maintainers. They like having that casually mentioned about 20 messages into the troubleshooting process.
Pff, issue reports should ask for the output of ‘uname -ar’. It clearly shows its wsl as wsl runs a special kernel
I’m a big fan of going on WSL forums and letting them know everything is working well for give or take 20 messages, then I let them know I need help troubleshooting.
When someone ask for help with a Linux issue: 🤩
It’s a wsl bug: 🤭
Open source now tho
Oh yeah, that is true !
Me looking disgusted at myself in the mirror, for I am doomed towards eternal Microsoft-dependency at work.
Still better than cygwin
God I remember suffering through cygwin at a VB shop back in '17… literal hell
And msys
Small blessings. Seeing a WSL user means that some dev out there didn’t have to implement Windows support.
I don’t think anyone is a “wsl user” so much as they’ve found themselves in a position where the lowest friction solution is utilizing wsl for a given situation.
Around 2019, even up until like 2022 if you wanted to run docker in windows, that was how to do it.
That’s where I was a few years ago, and then I switched back to proper Linux. I was only keeping Windows at all for games, but then most of the games I played started working fine on Linux (thank you, Valve).
Plus, I tried doing some TensorFlow stuff with CUDA (Nvidia) GPU acceleration. In theory, you can do it in pure Windows, but nobody has bothered trying to do that. You’re on your own if you try it. The usual way is to do GPU passthrough to WSL. There have been three different ways to do that over the years, only one of which currently works. If you happen to Google a page that tells you one of the wrong ways, there’s a good chance you’ll need to reinstall to get it working the right way.
Using pure Linux for this stuff is no problem. Just use Nvidia’s server drivers instead of gaming drivers. All the AI datacenters are using Nvidia GPUs on Linux, so Nvidia is highly motivated to make this work. Someday, Windows might be as easy to use as Linux.
I learned the shell in wsl before I switched to Linux full time. I wasn’t trying to learn it intentionally. Just didn’t want to develop software on windows. It’s a great gateway drug that reduces friction by a lot.
The terminal is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
It’s not a story the Vibe Coders would tell you
Pretty much my situation. Work stuff, Windows machine, but Linux/Docker workflow and I refuse to let go of my POSIX shell.
All the good stuff available and you choose a POSIX shell? To each their own I guess.
Granted, I still prefer it to PowerShell, but only in how it feels, not conceptually.
Eh I’m not hard set on full spec compliance. I use ZSH, it’s not technically POSIX compliant but close enough that I virtually never have to think about it. Technically correct would probably have been “sh derivative” or something.
I still prefer it to PowerShell
Who hurt you?
Why?
Not enough caffeine. Please disregard.
What’s the current best way to run docker on Windows?
I’m still using wsl(2) for that in 2025 because it seems to be the path of least resistance on Win11.
That could very well be the best practice. I haven’t had to run docker in windows since then.
WSL is cool when you first use it then you realize it actually kind of sucks
Apt username
Yum username.
Yay username
“WSL”?
Windows/Sex/Location
Windows subsystem for linux.
Its basically a microsoft linux kernel, running in a hypervisor, with a linux distro built on top. The subsystem also supports xserver and wayland tooWindows Subsystem for Linux
This sort of elitism really hurts adoption
How? WSL is absolutely awful for adoption. Theres no GUI, it bearly runs GUI apps, and you have to manually configure it. If my first experience with Linux was WSL I would never touch Linux again.
It has proper gui support now?
Let me clearify, you cant run full desktop environments on it. You cant even run a window manager like Sway on it.
You can but it’s a very cursed way to do it. You need to run an X server on windows and set up x11 forwarding. I remember trying it ages ago and it sort of worked. I ended up giving up on it as I ended up just using a live boot.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61110603/how-to-set-up-working-x11-forwarding-on-wsl2
The only way it could really do it would be for the Windows shell to get out of the way, which it won’t.
You can with effort have some sort of abomination where you get inflicted with both UI designs at the same time…
That seems like its not stable and the software is likely to either be undermaintained or unmaintained
Vcxsrv has been around for ages. It’s also more documented now. I tried it right when wsl2 released.
This pleb thinks we should listen to them. Frankly, this neighborhood is done for!
I knew, as soon as they installed that damned GUI, that we’d have Windowers coming around with their “Windows key this and WSL that”. I’m going to have to move to BSD at this rate, I hear they have a more permissive license. I was telling my friend Margaret just the other day that I was meaning to move to BSD. That and that I wanted to get a shrubbery, for the garden.
A shrubbery‽
The same
On another side it stops people from switching cause as better it’s working less reason to switch
