Linux on Windows 10

[vcoleiro1]

Looks like Canonical has been working with Microsoft to deliver a sort of reverse WINE environment, so that Linux of sorts can be used under Windows 10.

See here for more details

http://liliputing.com/2016/03/some-native-ubuntu-apps-coming-to-windows-10-for-developers.html
http://www.engadget.com/2016/03/30/bash-shell-in-windows-10/


From the Liliputing article:


Canonical’s Dustin Kirkland explains a bit further. Users will be able to type “bash” into the Windows 10 start menu to open a command line console that users Ubuntu’s /bin/bash.

The system features a full Ubuntu user space complete ith support for tools including ssh, grep, wget, curl, python, mysql, ruby, php, vim, and more.

Kirkland says Bash for Windows 10 differs from tools like Cygwin, because it’s not just a set of tools that have been recompiled to run on Windows. Instead, the complete Ubuntu subsystem is available, making this more like an emulation layer. It’s kind of like the opposite of WINE, which allows you to run (some) Windows apps on Linux.

In this case, Linux system calls are translated into Windows calls in real-time, allowing you to run some Ubuntu programs on Windows without making any modifications to those programs.

Currently the tools are based on Ubuntu 14.04, but soon everything will be updated to Ubuntu 16.04.

Wondering how big a deal this is for developers? Hackaday suggests:

"It is not an understatement to say this is the most important development in operating systems in the last 10 years. For the last decade, every developer who is not purely a Windows developer has picked up a MacBook for the sole reason of having BSD under the hood. If you’re looking for a reason Apple is popular with devs, it’s *nix under the hood. This announcement changes all of that."

 

[rygD]

So all of the hassles of Linux with nearly none of the benefits?

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Why would I use Linux inside Windows?

 

[TrashyMG]

Bleh

 

[WizardStan]

So this is just cygwin, except native? No need to install anything? I guess that's neat, technically.

 

[PowerGod]

lol

 

[Asaggynoodle]

You can download a support Patch on Windows Server that allows you to run certain Linux software right on the Windows Kernel. I've seen it done first hand, not sure what the compatibility is like though.

But you're totally right, who would want the hassle of Linux when you already have a solid Windows Platform.

 

[EvilDragon]

Umm... okay, no idea what use that would have.

Almost every Linux program is available on Windows as well (thanks to being OpenSource).
The other advantage of Linux (being more secure and less bloated) is not given here, as Windows 10 still runs.

And I can not replace my Windows 10 desktop... I'd love to have my Windows 10 running with KDE as DE, but that most probably won't work with that tool as well.

So... umm... why would anyone need this?

 

[comradekingu]

So now you can pull up a terminal if your boss passes by so it atleast seems like you know what you are doing?

 

[rygD]

There may be some cases where they are useful that I don't see since I am not the target audience for this. If I was stuck on a Windows box and needed Linux I would just fire up a VM.

Surely they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble without making sure it would be useful to many people. We should be happy about this. I just hope this isn't supposed to be some propaganda thing by MS to show how "useless" Linux is to Windows users considering switching over.

 

[FaeMinx]

For the last decade, every developer who is not purely a Windows developer has picked up a MacBook for the sole reason of having BSD under the hood. If you’re looking for a reason Apple is popular with devs, it’s *nix under the hood. This announcement changes all of that."

This is the only positive i could glean from this.

 

[Exophase]

So this is just cygwin, except native? No need to install anything? I guess that's neat, technically.

That would be msys, and this sounds like the total opposite. It's a layer for running actual Linux binaries.

Probably the best thing about it is you presumably get access to Ubuntu's repositories. msys actually uses pacman but it's very limited compared to apt on Ubuntu.

 

[ElPoco]

That could be somewhat useful for my work. I have some windows only programs I need to use for some tasks, and I sometimes have some tasks that work better on a Linux environment (setting up cygwin for it is too much of a hassle). I have a VM For this, but being able to do it without this VM would be nice (though I'm not sure it will be as convenient as the VM).

And from what I've read, that's more or less the target of Microsoft: developers running Windows who'd like to use some Linux build tools.

 

[_jr_]

What kind of hassle do you have setting up cygwin? On any box I've used o far it's just been download installer, run installer, select packages, let installer install packages, run.

 

[lukey]

So all(or some) the disadvantages of Linux without the Advantages? At least Windows now supports ext2/3/4 with that AFAIK. The whole thing reminds me a bit of Microsoft's EEE (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish)

 

[rygD]

So all the disadvantages of Linux without the Advantages? At least Windows now supports ext2/3/4 with that.

Yep, that's what I said too. As @ElPoco suggested, it is probably good for the people it is intended for. I think I was looking at it how I do in those rare instances where I need WINE, and those are pretty much just for some games. Your average Windows user would probably have almost no use for this since they can barely follow instructions as it is, so they would get nowhere if forced to think about what they are doing. I miss the days of Windows running on MS-DOS.

(I had to troubleshoot an issue with a Windows user trying to work with Linux recently. They insisted that they found a guide that many people said worked, and that they did everything right. When I looked in the history I saw the commands including literally the "/path/to/whatever" that was in the guide they had copied and pasted. I asked them why they used that, and got the expected answer of "that is what was in the instructions". When I pushed a little more they told me they didn't know what any of it meant, but that everyone said it worked for them. I took the opportunity to explain a couple ways to find the location of the file they needed to work with, and how to find out what commands did, then had them try it again successfully. I finished off with some advice to never copy and paste random commands from the internet unless you know what they do. I thought I did a good thing, yet this person has totally given up on using Linux now.)

 

[PowerGod]

What kind of hassle do you have setting up cygwin? On any box I've used o far it's just been download installer, run installer, select packages, let installer install packages, run.

Yes, it's mostly like this if you just use the terminal, but if you want to use graphic applications (with windows, styles, etc...) on it it can become pretty complex to configure.

 

[ElPoco]

@_jr_: I was trying to build the Android Open Source Project. It's not supported. I guess there might be a way to get it to work, but in the end doing in in a VM is far more convenient. But as I wrote, I'm not sure "GNU/Windows" would work any better.

 

[rygD]

"GNU/Windows"

Good name for it, I like that. I am going to steal it.

 

[ekianjo]

Almost every Linux program is available on Windows as well (thanks to being OpenSource).

it's for developers. They can use bash and package management from the command line. This is not for GUI apps.
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MacBook for the sole reason of having BSD under the hood

They dont care about BSD, they care about having a POSIX OS under the hood.