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Comment by hfkwer | Hacker News Reader

Presumably to counter this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/android/wsa/

The Windows Subsystem for X naming convention is so annoying. It's an Android Subsystem for Windows, but leave it to Microsoft to make sure their product name comes first.

I hope they rename everything to follow the same scheme just to dial up the confusion.

Office for Mac -> Mac for Office

It's a trademark thing. “Android Subsystem for Windows” would imply it's an Android product.

Could* imply that.

I think it would make more sense if they called it:

* Windows Android subsystem

* Windows Linux subsystem

Etc

It's a Windows Subsystem for running Android apps.

We know, but "<thing> for <platform>" usually implies that <thing> runs on <platform>, not the other way around.

Yes, and if they had called it that it would have been less confusing.

[BROUGHT TO YOU BY WINDOWS] Subsystem for X.

Its supposed to be read

Windows (Subsystem for Linux)

And not

(Windows subsystem) for Linux

Oh I'm aware, but that is simply not how English works, and even if it were, it still breaks the decades long industry naming convention of "for <platform>" meaning "runs on <platform>".

I recall this being due to issues with using a product name like Android as the first word in a product name.

I may be mistaken though.

Do you think the Firefox plugin for 1password (random example) is a plugin that runs inside 1password and allows you to use Firefox? Does the Linux driver for ext4 allow you to use a Linux kernel from within the driver, or the other way around? WSA is a "Windows subsystem" that allows you to run Android. That's it. But leave it to HN to always have someone make the exact same comment whenever WSL or WSA is mentioned.

> the Firefox plugin for 1password

No one calls it that. That's the point. It's the 1Password plugin for Firefox.

The extension appears to be called "1Password for Firefox"...

Why would it need countering? So long as the apps are available on the platform, that helps Google’s reach with the play store.

Another comment mentioned that WSA is quite technical to set up, and this is a simpler alternative.

WSA uses the Amazon app store by default, not Google's.

Google announced this after Windows Subsystem for Android was announced, so I do think they feel they need to compete with it.

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