[pxc]

If you install the podman package via Scoop, you'll get a `podman` client shim, and then if you run `podman machine init` it'll automatically set up a WSL instance running Fedora with Podman set up and relay the necessary sockets for you so that running `podman ps` or whatever on Windows Just Works™.

Then if you want to can run `wsl -d podman-machine-default` to log into the distro as normal. You can also copy the distro, import/export/register it as usual if you want a clone unaffiliated with the podman package per se.

[emptysongglass]

What the official Windows Podman installer, also official Podman Desktop that installs Podman and scoop's Podman package should really do is offer to integrate with your existing WSL2 distro like Docker Desktop does.

[pxc]

The way that Docker Desktop integrates is just one extra step away from `podman machine init`, since Docker Desktop just does the same socket relaying stuff for your existing WSL distros as it does for Windows. The actual Docker daemon only runs on the special distro that the tool (Docker Desktop or `podman machine` or whatever) sets up.

I assume that Podman Desktop does that but idk because I don't use it. Rancher Desktop also works this same way.

In all cases, the integration with existing distros happens inside the GUI app. Maybe I'll check tomorrow whether Podman Desktop offers comparable integration.

But yeah, it's a good integration to have because the native Windows CLI experience is still so impractical and clunky that many developers end up setting up a pet distro in WSL and pretty much living in it as their default terminal session. Good integration with cmd.exe or (pwsh.exe running under Windows Terminal, for that matter) is cool but it doesn't mean much to someone who does all their work in an Ubuntu WSL VM or whatever.