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DiscussionChange my mind: Windows Subsystem for Linux should be Linux Subsystem for Windows(self.linux)
I'm serious. Isn't WSL essentially a Linux environment running on top of Windows, rather than a Wind...
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Indeed, It is actually a piece of windows software (so a windows subsystem) that provides services that allow you to integrate a hyper-v vm running linux into your windows environment.
WSL is not the Linux system, You run Linux on top of it.
The current name is completely correct and the name OP suggest is actually inaccurate.
Except it was like that at launch time. There used to be no VM involved...
Yeah for WSL1 you could argue LSW would be more accurate since it adds a layer to translate Linux kernel calls to windows kernel calls and you actually never need Linux (the kernel) just a userland.
For WSL2, WSL is perfectly accurate and LSW would be wrong.
It was pointed out to me that WSL1 is still available, but for most use cases you'll want WSL2 for the much better compatibility.
Yes, that's true. WSL1 was a much harder effort and would have been an endless cat and mouse game, with WSL always lagging behind the real Linux kernel, so they ended up settling for this much more "boring" approach.
One thing I don't like about this is the fact they sometimes say WSL2 is much better than a virtual machine, as if it wasn't the exact same thing underneath. I mean, it works and it's quite convenient, but a lot of people still think it's some sort of "compatibility layer".
I think if they were going to rename it, it shouldn't be overly complicated.
Like Crostini or crosvm on Android.
Probably not something silly like Birdfeeder though. Even though I think the idea of someone sitting watching a penguin OS through their windows makes it funny.