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Comment by tuetuopay | Hacker News Reader

It's a... VM? Like the Linux VMs running on Linux computers in the cloud?

Sorry but not sorry, it's not easier to run than on linux. It requires the Windows store to work, and to use Hyper-V (which breaks VMware workstation, among other things).

It's in a better package, to be sure, but it's not "easier to run multiple OS on the same computer". It's easier to use multiple OSes (no SSH, GUI forwarding, etc), as long as all those OSes are Linux flavors supported by WSL.

Want FreeBSD or Windows? Nope!

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Does it really need the store? I thought you could just go "wsl install" on the console.

The files, including and especially the distro files, `wsl install` installs still originate from the Store's CDN, so the truly paranoid that distrust the Store (including some corporate environments) and just entirely block Store CDN access at the DNS and/or firewall level still break WSL installs.

There's a --web-download argument which helped with issues when I had limited access to the store.

You're likely right, I haven't used it in ages. Though I recall that at one point you had to get distributions from the Store, but it may have been that long ago that it was still being called "Bash for Windows".

As of 24H2, you can just "wsl install" from the commandline and it'll do all necessary setup to get you up and running, including installation of Hyper-V components if needed.

You don't need the store.

> Want FreeBSD or Windows? Nope!

Well, it is windows subsystem for Linux :) not windows subsystem for windows or FreeBSD for that matter :)

Ps I wonder if you can make your own image? After all its really just Hyper-V with some config candy.

It's a bit more than just some candy, there's substantial glue on both the Linux/Windows sides to get Plan9, WSLG, and the other components to work.

That said, the kernel they distribute is open source and you're not limited to just the distros they're working with directly. There are a number of third party (e.g. there's no Arch from Arch or Microsoft, but there's a completely compatible third party package that gives you Arch in WSL2)

>e.g. there's no Arch from Arch or Microsoft, but there's a completely compatible third party package that gives you Arch in WSL2

No longer true since last month.

https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/arch-dev-public@li...

I'm shocked. They were adamant it wasn't going to happen for a long long time.

The main complaint was the market place TOS that gave Microsoft a free-pass on any trademarked assets. The new WSL2 installation way avoids all of this.

Along with the glibc hacks needed by WSL1.

(I was part of the discussion and also very adamant about this not happening)

Haha yes, I was being cheeky :)

I'm pretty sure that with the opensourcing, we'll see freebsd or more exotic systems popping up quite quickly. Heck, macOS would be fun!

> Heck, macOS would be fun!

Especially in licensing! /sarcasm

That would make it even funnier in my book!

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