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Comment by TylerE | Hacker News Reader

I mean, yeah, it's weird, but it makes sense if the 2nd noun is anything that isn't an OS.

Windows Subsystem for Audio, Windows Subsystem for Filesystems, etc

All of these still sound awkward. "Windows Audio Subsystem", or "Audio Subsystem for Windows" both sound better. The fact that it's an audio subsystem is more descriptive than the fact that it's a windows subsystem, so it sounds strange to group it the other way.

Apple iPhone vs iPhone for Apple. Microsoft Office vs Office for Microsoft. Google Chrome vs Chrome for Google. Corporations are reluctant to put "products" without their brand name first. And they intetpret "products" as literally anything anybody with a wallet can identify. WSL makes the list.

> Apple iPhone vs iPhone for Apple.

The equivalent of "Apple iPhone" is, in this case, "Windows Audio Subsystem". Not "Windows Subsystem for Audio".

It's unfortunate when marketing speak enters the domain of tools. Imagine if builders had to deal with this:

"Hey hank, grab me the Microsoft Screws(tm) for 3/4 inch holes"

Philips…

> Apple iPhone vs iPhone for Apple. Microsoft Office vs Office for Microsoft. Google Chrome vs Chrome for Google.

...none of those make any sense. Chrome isn't for Google. It's made and distributed by Google. iPhones aren't for Apple. Office isn't for Microsoft.

What were you trying to say?

In fairness, the Windows Subsystem isn't for Linux either.

Huh?

They probably mean that WSL was designed to promote Windows as “the best environment” to run Linux applications. (WSL1 did not even have Linux in it.)

I thought it was pretty clear.

Windows subsystem for Linux is a product. Just like Apple iPhone is a product. Just like Apple iCloud is a product. Nobody names their products with their company name at the end.

I wonder if they left out a few words. The Windows subsystem for using audio. The Windows subsystem for using graphics. The Windows subsystem for using modems. (I made those up…I think)

> The fact that it's an audio subsystem is more descriptive than the fact that it's a windows subsystem, so it sounds strange to group it the other way.

We say that English is "right-headed" for this reason - an audio subsystem is a kind of subsystem, not a kind of audio.

Interestingly, there are a few established words, derived from verbs, like kiss-ass or pickpocket which have things the wrong way around; the prediction from right-headedness would be pocket-picker.

Interesting - it makes me wonder if those words have origins in other languages or something.

Almost certainly not. For pickpocket we could say that it's an old word, and maybe English had a weaker preference for right-headedness when it arose. But that's more difficult for kiss-ass.

Ass-kisser also has the same meaning.

The dumb part is that they insist on including "Windows" in the name. What other subsytems would you have in Windows than Windows subsystems? The Windows part is implied. Otherwise it would not be a _sub_system, right? The only reason it is there is because some marketing idiot wanted more branding.

So the Linux subsystem should be called... Linux subsystem. Searching on Google would lead to type "linux subsystem for windows" and it would not be hard for Google to direct you to the right Microsoft website.

It could be a subsystem for any one of the programs that run on Windows. For example, if it were virtualized in the browser, it could be called "Edge Subsystem for Linux". With the name WSL, the fact that it's baked directly into the OS is clear.

> Edge Subsystem for Linux

Except that it isn't for Linux. So what you wrote implies that this is baked into an OS, but in fact it isn't.

It is extremely confusing.

It's a Windows subsystem. What's it for? Running Linux. It's a Windows subsystem for Linux.

>The dumb part is that they insist on including "Windows" in the name. What other subsytems would you have in Windows than Windows subsystems? The Windows part is implied. Otherwise it would not be a _sub_system, right? The only reason it is there is because some marketing idiot wanted more branding.

It's not dumb to them. Microsoft is not a tech company.

Microsoft is a marketing/sales company that happens to market and sell the software, services and hardware that the company makes.

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