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by Decade 3261 days ago
But Linux is the one part that is not present. It’s GNU software running in a Windows subsystem. GNU/Windows?
2 comments
milcron 3261 days ago
Not true in this instance. They implemented the Linux ABI, which means software can run on the linux subsystem without recompilation.

Cygwin allows running GNU software on Windows, but it doesn't implement the Linux ABI. Therefore Cygwin requires software recompilation.

The big advantage of WSL is that you can run native linux binaries.

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Decade 3257 days ago
#sigh# Clearly the joke was not funny if it had to be explained.

For decades, Richard Stallman has been calling it GNU/Linux, because the OS “aside from the kernel” was GNU, and Linux is the kernel. https://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.en.html

Now, we have a Microsoft system that runs the Linux binaries, which are GNU according to Stallman, but not running them on the Linux kernel. You’re naming the entire system after the one component that is missing. By the same logic that normal Linux should be GNU/Linux, Linux containers on Windows should be GNU/Windows.

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Dylan16807 3261 days ago
The whole point is having the Linux ABI. There are half a dozen ways to run GNU on Windows.
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