[xmichael999]

I'm so confused right now. I looked at the various links and cant believe I still can't figure this out. The kernel is windows or linux? How do I get or run this? I install windows and then this? Someone help me out here!

[jamesgeck0]

WSL is a Windows 10 feature that allows you to run Linux applications on the NT kernel. It's not a 100% complete implementation of every Linux kernel API (yet?) but it's far enough along that you can run a lot of interesting software.

https://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheYearOfLinuxOnTheWindowsDes...

Pengwin looks like a Linux distro that removes the parts of a traditional distro that don't make sense in WSL and streamlines things that are still somewhat difficult in WSL, like getting X applications running.

[h1d]

I get it that WSL is easy for anyone to use but why not just run a real Linux in VMware or VirtualBox and you'll have 100% compatible Linux environment.

Prebuilt OS image is just a single download and deploy.

[jamesgeck0]

Because I don't need a 100% compatible environment. WSL has better host integration and better performance in my experience, and it runs my development stack fine.

[GordonS]

Was going to say much the same thing, plus it starts instantaneously, vs a minimum of several seconds for a VM

[cpuguy83]

WSL is Windows Subsystem for Linux, and it is part of Windows. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10 It translates Linux system calls into Windows.

This allows you to run a Linux userspace on Windows. The Windows store has (for free) installable distros for Ubuntu, Debian, and others.

[squarefoot]

Essentially WSL is to Linux what WINE has been for years to Windows: it translates Linux system calls natively to Windows ones so that Linux binaries can be executed on Windows without any recompiling or virtualization. Technically is a great milestone, but there are some risks: suppose one day Microsoft implements a way to use Windows GUI elements or other resources directly from Linux binaries and people starts writing "Linux" software that uses the new capabilities, de facto requiring WSL (ie Windows) to be run, how many Linux users would jump ship? My only fear is that Microsoft could be planning to do just that.

[jamesgeck0]

That seems improbable, although the reverse is happening. When Flatpak support is complete, it'll be possible to have desktop application packages that just work on both Windows and Linux.