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Ubuntu Arrives in the Windows Store, Suse and Fedora Are Coming To the Windows Subsystem For Linux (venturebeat.com)

Posted by msmash on from the going-forward dept.

At its Build developer conference today, Microsoft announced that Ubuntu has arrived in the Windows Store. From a report: The company also revealed that it is working with Fedora and Suse to bring their distributions to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in Windows 10. At the conference last year, Microsoft announced plans to bring the Bash shell to Windows. The fruits of that labor was WSL, a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables (in ELF format) natively on Windows, which arrived with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update released in August 2016. Microsoft also partnered with Canonical to allow Ubuntu tools and utilities to run natively on top of the WSL. By bringing Ubuntu to the Windows Store, the company is now making it even easier for developers to install the tools and run Windows and Linux apps side by side. Working with other Linux firms shows that Microsoft's deal with Canonical was not a one-time affair, but rather part of a long-term investment in the Linux world.

9 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. Strangely enough... by PontifexMaximus · · Score: 1, Insightful

    No one really cares. What benefits are there to this, other than MS trying to lock people into the MS/Linux space? It's like the Borg. Anyone with sense pushes people AWAY from MS, not toward it just because it 'runs linux'.

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    Pax Vobiscum
    1. Re:Strangely enough... by DickBreath · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How many real Linux developers are on Windows and have trouble with running a VM, or a separate box?

      Windows Subsystem for Linux merely provides a Linux kernel personality or API on the Windows kernel. Wouldn't someone developing for Linux want the real Linux kernel? Should your development and testing be done on something as close to the production system as possible?

      Surely Microsoft would introduce some "extra" features that are addictively sweet into it's Linux ABI. Just like Microsoft did with Java a decade and a half ago -- in violation of the agreement Microsoft signed with Sun -- and got sued for it and cost them $1.2 Billion. Surely nice, friendly Microsoft wouldn't want you to get hooked on something that doesn't exist in the real Linux, and therefore makes you consider deploying Windows in production?

      I mean, after all, Microsoft Loves Linux. And Sharks Love Fish. And Foxes Love Chickens.

      BTW, Wine now runs on Windows Subsystem for Linux.

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      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    2. Re:Strangely enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Setting up and using a VM is a lot harder than clicking a checkbox to turn on the WSL feature and then running bash.exe.

    3. Re: Strangely enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Because its so hard to shift gears manually. (Auto transmission)

      Because its so hard to reheat things on a stove. (Microwave)

      Because its so hard to go to your desktop computer to send email. (Smart phone or laptop)

      Because its so hard to get the calculator out to add. (... stupid)

      Because its so hard to retype text. (Copy and paste)

      With your simple minded thinking no progress should be made. Because its not hard to do anything the old fashion way.

      Better get on your horse.

  2. Re:Assimilate them, don't let them assimilate us by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Don't run windows at all. That was the whole point.

  3. And so what? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm still struggling to understand the use case for this.

    Everyone who really needed Windows and Linux on one box has already setup dual-boot or virtualization. You can even pick which OS to use on bare metal and which to virtualize these days. It's great.

    Does Microsoft envision themselves selling Linux apps in the Windows Store (like they sell MySQL and PostgreSQL on Azure)? I don't see that working because anyone can distribute a free version outside of the store.

    Telemetry in Windows 7/8/10 proves that Microsoft is perfectly willing to sell out their customers for a marginal benefit. But I don't really see what benefit WSL gives them that they don't already get with Hyper-V.

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    According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    1. Re: And so what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Its because Microsoft plans on forcing vendors to lock out Linux in secure boot. This way Microsoft can say "but all your Linux apps run on our platform so you won't lose anything. Plus its more secure because everyone knows that bios malware is the most common threat to the average PC user." If you run Linux applications on Windows it ruins the point of running Linux apps which is exactly the point of Windows trying to coerce users into doing it.

  4. This is bad for Linux by Eravnrekaree · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is harmful to Linux, otherwise Microsoft would not be involved. Its not Linux at all, since you are just running some userland tools on Windows. Something that gives people a reason to not run the fully open source Linux kernel is not healthy for Linux, or open source. Microsofts hope with this is to starve the Linux kernel of userbase by giving people a reason to not install Linux, why install Linux when you can get the userland installed as an app on windows? None of the distros should cooperate with this. Instead, efforts should focus on funding efforts to get WINE to where it can run 99% of windows apps flawlessly.

  5. Re:Opposites. by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Or just be at a corporation where they use MS Exchange Server so that you need Office tools, or Skype for Business is in common use. That's hard to get working properly on Linux (even on OSX these are substandard implementation, and Visio isn't even available). Windows is entrenched in the enterprise for a reason, and that's not because they hate Linux.