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Ubuntu Is Now Available On the Windows Store (windowscentral.com)

Ubuntu is now available for download on the Windows Store. "Initially spotted by Rafael Rivera and Necrosoft Core on Twitter, Ubuntu on the Windows Store will let you install and run the Ubuntu terminal on Windows next to your other apps," reports Windows Central. From the report: Ubuntu's arrival, and that of SUSE, are part of a recent push by Microsoft to embrace Linux and the open source community more broadly. This began with the arrival of the Windows Subsystem for Linux in 2016, allowing users to use the Bash shell from within Windows. Keep in mind that this is limited to the Fall Creators Update, which isn't set for a public release until later this year. If you're running a PC testing the Fall Creators Update through the Windows Insider Program, however, you should be able to download and try Ubuntu from the Windows Store just fine.

9 of 121 comments (clear)

  1. Support Open Source by OrangeTide · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Then Microsoft needs to release MinWin.

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    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  2. Re:Microsoft haters by Tanktalus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I hate Windows, and don't care for Ubuntu. But if I have to take a job working on Windows, you can bet I'll be looking at this carefully. Stands a good chance of being better than cygwin anyway.

  3. whatever by stooo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ubuntu in the Windows store ?
    Whatever.
    Get the original.

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    aaaaaaa
  4. Re:Microsoft haters by sexconker · · Score: 3, Funny

    Stands a good chance of being better than cygwin anyway.

    A spontaneous bout of diarrhea stands a good chance of being better than cygwin.

  5. Expected year of the desktop first by Subm · · Score: 4, Funny

    I always expected to see the year of GNU/Linux on the desktop before seeing the year of it on Microsoft, but I'll take it.

    Next, I'd love to see Richard Stallman having dinner with Bill Gates. I believe I have a vivid imagination, but I can't imagine how that dinner would go.

  6. The annexation and subversion of Linux by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It's slowly happening, like I feared it would, and none of you believed me.

    Why install messy and complicated 'linux' when you can get the look and feel within your nice, safe, compatible Windows computer? Silly Linux!

    None of the power of Linux and none of the respect for your privacy. Sandboxing Linux under Windows instead of the other way around like it should be. Screw that.

  7. Re:Trojan Horse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They're not attacking the Linux community with this. They're trying to put the final nail in OS X's coffin.

    There was a time when OS X was the OS of choice for business developers. It was based on UNIX so it ran the UNIX toolchain, but it also ran the commercial software that IT required. It was either the choice of least resistance (since IT would support it) or the only choice (if IT forbid Linux entirely). This was before Apple went off the deep end and started iOS-ifying it and renamed it "macOS" and back when OS X hardware was actually cost-competitive if not outright superior to Windows hardware. (Yes, there was a time when you simply could not get a Windows PC as nice as a MacBook. Hasn't been true for years now, but it was true once.)

    The one thing "macOS" still has going for it is the UNIX toolchain. If Microsoft can provide all the developer tools under Windows by offering a Linux layer, that last reason to keep using "macOS" goes away and there becomes no reason to bother with "macOS" instead of Windows. That's why they're doing it - to win back all the developers that left for Apple but are now sick and tired of Apple focusing only on the iPhone and ignoring everything else. Or, worse, taking iOS features and dumping them into their desktop OS.

  8. Accuracy, please by lucm · · Score: 3, Funny

    Stands a good chance of being better than cygwin anyway.

    A spontaneous bout of diarrhea stands a good chance of being better than cygwin.

    You mean: A spontaneous bout of diarrhea in a stalled elevator stands a good chance of being better than cygwin.

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    lucm, indeed.
  9. Re:Ubuntu or bash? by squiggleslash · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ubuntu comes in many flavors. What's available on Windows is something similar to Ubuntu Server, a bare bones system where opening a new window gives you another terminal session with a specified user. You can apt-get anything you want, though anything requiring a GUI will need an X server, and you won't be able to run X.org.

    Be aware you're not getting Linux (the kernel) with this system - everything is running over a compatibility layer over Windows. Almost everything works anyway. The advantage is that it's tightly integrated with Windows in much the same way as Cygwin is. Unlike Cygwin, the Ubuntu environment runs in a file system very similar in functionality to ext2/3/4 (so, no "ls.exe" needed.) The actual Windows file system is at /mnt/c so you can process files on the Windows side too.

    I like it more than Cygwin - the availability of apt-get alone to install packages is a major improvement.

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    You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.