[alichapman]

* You can't run your distro of choice unless you build it yourself

* Lots of programs don't work properly (citation needed, can't remember specifics)

* You can only run command line programs, although I understand this could be different in Windows 11

My last job mandated windows laptops so I used WSL for a couple of months before I got too frustrated and just ran a virtualbox VM.

[test1235]

>You can only run command line programs, although I understand this could be different in Windows 11

WSLg solves this, apparently

https://github.com/microsoft/wslg

[DeathArrow]

In the article it says clearly that you can run the distro of your choice using WSL.

[gertrunde]

The distro of your choice from the small pool that you are given to choose from.

It's not a completely unrestricted choice.

That pool includes Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE, Fedora and a few others if I remember correctly, although it may have expanded since.

I'm not sure how straightforward rolling your own is.

[Atomskun]

You have no idea what you are talking about. You can install any kind of distribution by copying over their rootfs. For example, I am running Void Linux on WSL2.

[int_19h]

The pool in question is open - anybody (not just Microsoft) can package and publish a distro there.

And for one-off use, there's wsl --import: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/use-custom-dist...

[withinboredom]

And building a custom one is easy. I have Gentoo running in WSL with no fuss.

[testermelon]

Can it run Linux From Scratch (LFS)? It seems like it could.

[shanoaice]

Yes sure it can, create a usable (chrootable) Linux From Scratch rootfs tarball and import it using wsl --import, and everything should be fine. Though don't forget to remove the kernels because WSL don't load them, instead WSL uses a custom kernel shipped with the Windows system.

[tomc1985]

Can't you run an xorg server under Windows and let the WSL apps connect to that?

[disgruntledphd2]

Yeah, you can, but it's pretty janky.

[int_19h]

Not if you use an X server that's specifically designed for it: https://x410.dev/

[disgruntledphd2]

I'll have to check that out, thanks!