Beyond Bash: Microsoft Refines the Windows Subsystem for Linux (opens in new tab)

(thenewstack.io)

35 pointsn3mes1s9y ago7 comments

7 comments

Interesting that Microsoft is so eager to support enough syscalls for non-GUI developers. But I wonder how much this increases the attack surface of both Windows and the WSL Linux.

tracker19y ago

It may not be the only reason, but my thoughts from the start were that if this flushes out enough, getting Linux containers (docker) on windows in a native way could be a big win, and even bigger in Azure's space. I really liked the approach that Joyent took to getting Docker/Linux containers on their Solaris fork.

najajomo9y ago

"the increasing number of developers considering a move from Mac OS because they find the MacBook Pro underpowered for their needs"

Why the need to insert anti Mac FUD into a technical article?

"via a pico driver with Microsoft’s clean room implementation of the Linux syscall interface."

Why clean room it, the kernel is GPL after all. This whole Linux-on-Windows strategy is nothing more than a ploy to slow down Linux adoption. Provide enough features to call it Linux without being actually being useful.

predakanga9y ago

All FUD aside, "developers looking for an alternative to the new MBP" is a pretty decent market to capture. I have no doubt that Microsoft are directing their efforts to try and take advantage of them.

hamandcheese9y ago

I think it makes a lot more sense to clean room it. Most (all?) of the functionality is already present in the Windows kernel, there just needs to be a Linux compatible API exposed.

The alternative is to... run two kernels? I doubt that's feasible in any form that doesn't resemble running a Linux VM.

beojan9y ago

The NT kernel has had a POSIX subsystem since the beginning. I'm not sure whether WSL uses this though.

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