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Microsoft has implemented a Linux shim that translates all the native Linux system calls into the corresponding native Windows call and back.
http://blog.dustinkirkland.com...

Demo of running native Linux ELFs on Windows
https://sec.ch9.ms/sessions/bu...

Think of it as the reverse of WINE -- I dub it CHEESE. :-)

Just so I'm clear, Does LINUX run in MS Windows or is it just Ubuntu that runs?

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Microsoft has implemented a Linux shim that translates all the native Linux system calls into the corresponding native Windows call and back.
http://blog.dustinkirkland.com...

Demo of running native Linux ELFs on Windows
https://sec.ch9.ms/sessions/bu...

Think of it as the reverse of WINE -- I dub it CHEESE. :-)

From what I read it actually does all that. You can 'apt-get install '. At least that what I understood from reading this. I think its kind of cool, like a "reverse WINE".

Canonical was involved. This explains what exactly it does:

http://blog.dustinkirkland.com...

Note the name: "Windows Subsystem for Linux"

Yes, thats exactly what it is,
http://blog.dustinkirkland.com...

From a canonical dev, its a reverse wine. Win kernel support that has linux syscall translation to windows calls. He wrote the filesystem translation. From what it sounds like they are pretty close to fully functional, just some issues with terminal emulation

If this allows me to open up a cmd.exe and ssh to systems right off the bat, I'm scrapping the macbook and getting a surface pro.

Yes, it does exactly that.

Here is a better - somewhat more technical - write-up from Ubuntu folks.

Here are more technical details.
It looks like they are loading the ELF file, then translating Linux syscalls into WinAPI calls on the fly. They've done a good job making it efficient, so it's almost as fast as standard windows calls.

Once again a company decides to use something that should be equivalent to a user-id as a password and gets it wrong.

This is the same deal as it is with using fingerprints as 'passwords.': http://blog.dustinkirkland.com.....

But biometrics cannot, and absolutely must not, be used to authenticate an identity. For authentication, you need a password or passphrase. Something that can be independently chosen, changed, and rotated.

For authentication, you need a password or passphrase. Something that can be independently chosen, changed, and rotated.

Core is a lightweight version of Ubuntu, intended so you can build it on small systems like cloud VMs or ARM boards or embedded devices. (That's an Ubuntu-ish use of "lightweight", which seems to be "of course you've got a huge disk drive even though you don't have much RAM or CPU, but I haven't yet loaded all the pieces to find what it takes to get a minimally useful system. It ain't Puppy Linux, but it's at least a JeOS replacement.)

Snappy is a package manager. It's designed for doing transactional updates to apps and frameworks, so you can load things that you really want to either succeed completely or else fail completely and clean up after themselves, without getting into trouble like dependencies or having to wait until the next semi-yearly Ubuntu release to have all their pieces. It's a replacement for apt/yum/ports/etc.

Snappy Ubuntu Core is an implementation of Core with a Snappy package manager on top of it. You'd typically load a framework like Docker on top of that, but you don't have to if your apps don't need it (or if you just don't have room.) Almost all the "Snappy Ubuntu Core" articles, including at Ubuntu.com, are mostly about Snappy package management, not actually about Core. Sigh.

• Some URLs:
• A minimal rootfs
• Installation Example
• Good intro to Snappy Core as JeOS replacement
• Description of Snappy as an App-building environment
• Cloud-init example
• UVtool for creating VMs.
• Snappy Guides
• Installing on different kinds of clouds

I'll just leave this here.

Exactly where I was going too. It is somewhat amazing that as soon as we find out that fingerprints are not truly unique, we have all of these tools to use them as bona fide ID. Granted, the odds of someone with the same fingerprint as you trying to log into your account are slim, there still should be some other secret associated with the print to allow access. It should be an enhancement to the password, not a replacement.

On the other side of the coin, back in the early 1970s the US government had not one, but two fingerprint cards on a bank bomber I am researching right now. They did not make a match until they found his real name and pulled his existing fingerprint card to make a match to the prints he left all over his bombs and his notes to the press. That part took almost a full week. His 1972 and 1982 wanted posters had full fingerprint sets, even though he had never been arrested. They came from his US Army enlistment records from 1956, and an enlistment under an alias in 1971. He stayed on the loose until 1986, when he was identified by his picture.

While there is some science associated with fingerprint identification, it is not quite the science that the authorities want us to believe.

I'll just leave this here.

I stole it from this guy.

There is some confusion here, because Linux's use in this area is mainly for visual effects, which is different from editing. Of course Linux is used on renderfarms mostly, but it is also used on the desktop for things like compositing and 3D work. In fact, work on Avatar was mostly done on Ubuntu (the article mostly talks about their render farm, but also mentions desktops).

That said, I think some high-end editing systems do run Linux, like Flame which has been mentioned here.

As this article attacked the feature I personally worked on in Karmic, I felt it appropriate to respond in my blog at http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2009/11/register-bloodied-by-lack-of-research.html.
Typically, I read and respect The Register. They usually run intriguing technology articles that make me think. I'm quite disappointed with today's carelessly researched piece, specifically, the paragraphs regarding eCryptfs.
Lack of automation? In Ubuntu 9.10, encrypting your home directory is a matter of selecting a check box in the installer: That's it. 9.04 Encrypted Home upgrading users simply run update-manager and upgrade all packages to 9.10. Their home directory encryption is not affected by this.
The author of this article found one post in the Ubuntu Forums poorly articulating an issue with home directory encryption and suddenly Ubuntu 9.10 users are getting "bloodied" by encryption in Ubuntu? Seriously?
I expect better journalism from The Register...
:-Dustin

In fairness, it does sound like the failure of a single individual to get their home folder encryption running was picked up by El Reg and blown up out of all proportion. Flickering screens? Yes, I saw that, but it was fixed by a fresh install rather than an upgrade.

There are some niggling bugs and lack of polish, but this isn't anything like Canonical Vista, despite what some people are hyping.

It comes pre-loaded with Ubuntu.
More info here:
http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2009/07/dell-mini9-server-and-dell-mini10v.html

In September 2008, I blogged a similarly glowing review, http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2008/09/book-review-daemon-by-leinad-zeraus.html A few months later, the publisher contacted me and supplied me with 3 copies of the new hardback, which I gave away through a series of cryptographic challenges over the last 3 weeks. It's an excellent book, and a must-read for anyone interested in the techno-thriller genre. Cheers, :-Dustin