WSL users

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.

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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
  
  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
  This was not on my bingo card even just 5 years ago.
- 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.
  
  Just install the docker engine in wsl like anywhere else and avoid docker desktop if you can

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 forgot about Cygwin... ugh

WSL is cool when you first use it then you realize it actually kind of sucks
- Apt username
  
  Yum username.

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?
  
  And i always thought Real™️ linux users dont need a desktop manager? No wait they need arch with a tiled window manager because it looks cool but actually dont do annything besides configure their install.
  
  When working with Linux I want a CLI and GUI for some applications. No need. To be fair, I primarily use windows because VS22 with resharpen is pretty nice (with graphical debugging).
- 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.
- On another side it stops people from switching cause as better it's working less reason to switch

When someone ask for help with a Linux issue: 🤩
It's a wsl bug: 🤭
- Open source now tho
  
  What's the benefit for that? Can you fork it and run a copy in windows (or is it too integrated in wondows) or is it just Microsoft wanting your free labour (bugfixes etc)?
  
  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

Most WSL users I know all run Linux at home; WSL is the best they can get at work.
- True

Small blessings. Seeing a WSL user means that some dev out there didn't have to implement Windows support.

fuck it
run windows in a virtual machine in Linux, then run wsl within it.

Yea..... But I have 3 Linux VMs running in Hyper-V. That counts for something right?
- It is honestly better

it's a unix system on top of a windows system; i know this!
- Yo dawg...
- We don't talk about ~~Bruno~~ the Microsoft POSIX subsystem

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.
- Just curious, what were the issues?
  
  It was a while ago now, bit I think it was trying to get all the individual bits to talk to each other (radarr to prowlarr, etc). I was following some guide and that's where it all fell apart.

Born to Gentoo+i3, forced (by work) to WSL

Windows users when they see a wine user???
I'm glad wsl exists so I don't have to bother with windows and people can still run my programs.
- Apt. Wine is pretty disgusting as a beginner linuxer.
  Proton however is incredible. An invisible solution that just works with no petformance impact.
  And "hardcore tinkering" is just changing the version from a dropdown menu to get old games to work.

I still don't know what WSL is for.
- To keep developers on the platform, because their own ecosystem is shit.
  
  Honestly if it frees me from MinGW I would be happy
- Windows Stolen Linux
- Serious answer,
  Windows subsystem for Linux.
  
  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.
  
  I do know what it is, I just don't know why you'd use it instead of proper linux, or a vm.
- 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.
- I only use Windows because I have to work with a corporation's IT helpdesk staff to get on their VPN if I want to do contract work for them. They are not likely to help me get connected from Linux; they'll just find another contract dev. Once in, I do everything in Linux because my code will ultimately run in a Linux cloud container of some sort. WSL works well enough for me to do this. I'd rather have Linux on bare metal, but whatever. I'm in; I'm coding; I'm getting paid. I'll put up with a little bit of suck.
- I love having it at work, so I can write and run bash scripts on my Windows work PC.
  I have dozens if Linux servers available to me but sometimes it just is easier to run a script locally.
  
  I too do that, working from a windows vm and writing code for linux - but I push it to a linux vm for testing. Never occurred to me to use WSL and have another environment to configure and maintain for dev that's different to the target one.
  But fair play if that suits you! Each to their own, and I'm sure I do things that make no sense to others.
- My company only allows us to use the company-provided Windows image, so I do all my work inside a WSL2 tmux session.
  JetBrains IDEs and VSCode also have WSL connectors so it works acceptably well.
  It also handily dodges all the Windows security policies (like installing software). You can even run Xorg apps from it.
  I'm still forced to use MS Teams and Outlook, though..
  
  Good answer. Like a michelin chef working at McDonald's and having a little secret area of his own.
  
  yup!
- Anecdote: I have an IDE that only works on Windows that can build applications for Linux. I use MinGW as part of the packaging process (AND I FUCKING HATE IT OH MY GOD. All of the pathing is broken!). As of yesterday I learned that WSL is a thing that might replace MinGW and make some processes of packaging for linux targets a little easier.
  
  I've used both. What I can tell you is that moving to WSL is like moving to Linux wholesale. Treat it like porting your toolchain.
  IIRC, MinGW tools will happily take windows style paths (e.g. "C:\Usersmyuser\projects"). If your tooling/scripting depends on being able to use Windows style paths, you'll have to fix that first or you're going to have a really bad time. There may be other small differences between MinGW tools and what ships on Ubuntu (or whatever Linux you decide to use in the WSL).
- its for when the reqs include azure ad and the whole office has a m$ fetish yet you still gotta get your bag without losing your decades-built toolset AND you have a choice at all
  
  That sounds like hell.
- I don't know what WSL is.

How do we feel about cygwin users, fellow linux hivemind drones?
- It is a old code sir but it still checks out
- Cygwin is at least well integrated into Windows. It does respect and show its native file system permissions, and you can run windows binaries from within cygwin.
  WSL is a load of shit compared to cygwin. No surprise, as it comes straight from Redmond.

Uh acktually I'm a Kali user
-Uses Kali WSL port
- Kali user
  found the problem

What if... WSL is a gateway drug to Arch?
Don't do drugs, kids!

WSL is Linux On a Budget. Its rough as hell but hey, if its all you have practical access to.
- Linux on a Budget
  Have.... Have I been accidentally pirating Linux all this time? Who do I owe money to?
  
  Linus and Stallmann

Why not just use both?
- Install Windows in a VM on a Linux distro and use WSL there?
  
  Wsl runs on hyper-v. I don't think you can use it in a VM

It’s so true though
I even look at myself that way whenever I use wsl on my gaming box to hop onto another system. I disgust myself.

WSL is just a chroot running under Windows.

Aww, cry harder.
I started using Linux when it was Redhat, in the 1990s, and it came on a bunch of CDs.
And I use WSL in addition to Debian, Raspbian, and Ubuntu.
Knock this tribal bullshit off.
- Yeah, why would they post something like this to the community for serious takes about Linux?
- Aww, cry harder.
  Some real pleasant people here.
- CD’s?! Ooh La La Mister Fancy French man with the digital media! Back in our day linux came on a plastic 45 inside Fruity Pebbles cereal and it had loose crusty sugar in the grooves that introduced errors in X that meant the screen scrolled like an out-of-whack tv and you had to wait for the prompt to roll by so you could try another resolution that would core dump and spit you back to the A:\ drive and eject the disc into your shins like a frisbee! And that’s the way we liked it!
- I started with Slackware. It came on floppies.
  Now move to the back of the line youngster.
  
  I'll never forget the first time I finally got Linux 0.1 to boot on my abacus.
- Some people hate practically it seems

World Surf League?
- I'm not sure what Linux users have against the World Surf League either, saw some footage from Margaret River the other day and it looked like a great event!
- Lol I thought they were random words, but no.

WSL is actually worse than people think it is , I tried doing android via using wsl and wanted to run emulator , the amount of work you have to put and still the result you get is sub norminal. And this was in my job which made the matter even worse because my boss thought I was slacking .

"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 too
- Windows Subsystem for Linux

For once I think I agree with Linux purists.
Fuck I might need a shower.

This is me looking at myself cause I use both lol

WSL is great. I get to do my weird little niche Linux stuff and also have working drivers for my mouse, use decent audio mixing software with a well designed GUI, run FL Studio, and decide based on my needs what the best software for any given task would be. I can also run any game without worrying about whether the score on ProtonDB is actually accurate or not.
If Linux had the same functionality as Windows I'd be all about it, but I have an actual workflow I need to be able to perform and I can't be bothered troubleshooting random shit at a moment's notice. Nothing breaks my flow more than realizing that a piece of software I need to operate flawlessly is missing some fundamental functionality. I literally can't even draw as effectively in Linux because my precision mode doesn't work properly. And there's no way in hell I'm going to spend the hours or days or whatever fucking around with JACK to try to get it to do half of what Voicemeeter does.
WSL is awesome because it enables me to do everything I want at the same time from the same operating system. I use Linux for functionality, not to be in a club. High school was a looong time ago. Who has time to center their lives around trying to be cool enough for some internet people?
Also like, way to pick the incel fuckboy rapist murderer to represent you in this meme. Bravo.
- I’m quite fucking good at Linux. I’m fine with embracing open source, and I think Proton is the best thing ever.
  I drew the line at audio, video and graphics on Linux, especially anything realtime.
  I bought a MacBook for that. I feel dirty, but all my ”work” is done on remote Linux systems anyway, so my Mac just needs to provide an editor and a terminal emulator, and I can even make do with my editor over SSH given reasonable latencies. On the other hand, all my audio/video/graphics work flawlessly on MacOS, and that’s what I need locally.

Wait, Linux users are elitist assholes?
<surprised_pikachu.jpg>
- wouldn't you be if you spent 25 years hearing Windows admins preaching about how much better windows is than Linux?
  I mean, I'm bitter AF about it and give the MS vendors a good ribbing now and again.
  If Windows was so great, why would WSL even be needed? unless their whole plan was to attempt to interfere with the Linux market and tempt people who left to come back.
  too bad they went full psycho with 11.

Oh no, Linux users are jealous that Windows is the best distro out there!
Anyways...
- In this case it's a bloated hypervisor, no?
  
  No.

Linux community: why don't more people use Linux? Also Linux community: LOL LOOK AT THESE STUPID FUCKERS TRYING LINUX WRONG, LETS ALL GO SHIT ON THEM
goddamn do yall deserve eachother and your 0.01% OS share or whatever meaningless percentage of the OS market you represent.
- Do you realize it's just a funny meme picture on the internet? We are on linuxmemes@lemmy.world and the picture is so mild, it's just a friendly poke for fun and you just try to tear us a new asshole for that, damn, chill.
  
  It's not funny, it's gatekeeping.
  
  its funny even if its a dead horse. don't sweat it. folks will tell on themselves given the right prompt.
- People in glass housed shouldn't throw stones.
- One of the main points of using Linux is so that you don't have to use Windows. Like I get WSL is useful in certain scenarios, but it's whole existence is basically counter to why the majority of Linux users use Linux.
  
  Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooosh
- As a counterpoint to all of the people saying that you're overreacting:
  They're right.
  However, I think the sentiment of your comment is valid and correct. Memes like this do ultimately serve to alienate newer Linux users.
  I think people are mostly responding to the way that your comment is worded, which conveys a much stronger reaction than is necessary for something that ultimately doesn't cause very much harm.
  
  Nobody is happy when you call them out for marginalizing people they view as inferior. I get the same reaction when call out family members being blatantly racist at family gatherings. I don't care about the reactions of people who choose to engage only with my tone, they're not here to interact with me or my opinions in a meaningful way. Last, I don't believe I overreacted at all. I called out shitty alienating behaviour in response to a meme that implies an outgroup community is disgusting or inferior based on their operating system choice. As I see it the tone of the meme was significantly more insulting than the tone of my response.
- All I know is that the WSL is a massive step-up from Cygwin or Mingw32. We've been here before. The most recent incarnation before WSL was a klunky VirtualBox VM steered by Packer. The idea that you can mash a few buttons and get an Ubuntu VM with filesystem mapping that "just works" is a huge improvement.
  Edit: I really don't get the vitriol anyone gets for using the WSL when it's a problem the FOSS community has tried to solve three times over in the last 25+ years or so.