The New Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) Architecture [video]

Although many people seem to be receiving the WSL2 news well, I am one of the few that feels that we will be missing something important with this new direction.<p>WSL1 was pushing the boundaries of OS research: - a method for having multiple syscall interfaces in a mainstream OS - processes in WSL1 were real NT processes (even if lacking some of the NTOS environment) - direct integration with the rest of the OS without an awkward VM separation layer.<p>In comparison WSL2 is basically an optimized VM with some fancy guest additions. Color me underwhelmed.<p>I understand the argument that WSL2 is faster than WSL1 in file system operations. I expect this will only be true for their root file system (&quot;VolFs&quot;) and that performance will remain same or suffer for Windows drives (&quot;DrvFs&quot;). I am certain that they could fix &quot;VolFs&quot; performance by moving the file system of NTFS and into a raw disk partition or VHD. (Note: I write file systems both in and out of kernel.)<p>Finally WSL2 will be distributed with Windows which raises some licensing questions (IANAL) if not in the letter of the GPL license at least in spirit. I write GPL&#x27;ed software myself and I would be somewhat miffed if I saw my software used in a similar manner (i.e. &quot;via a VM&quot;, but still distributed with non-GPL code).

I was initially very excited for WSL2, but I do worry it will require Hyper-V to be enabled. I use VMWare Workstation and it’s a true pain to switch Hyper-V on and off. Also, I cant help but worry that this will somehow be a downgrade in some way... will it be just as integrated? Windows Firewall worked on WSL Pico processes for example.

Switched to Windows from Linux on my work laptop 6 months ago. First-class support for Zoom, Office, screen-sharing, presenting, etc. is good. General terminal-based development is not fantastic, but WSL made it possible at all. I can run all but my most Linux-specific programs (e.g. dependent on procfs).<p>Aside from not have some Linux pseudo-filesystems the bigger issue has been the speed of file operations. I dread having to run `dep ensure` and `yarn install`.<p>Why not just Hyper-V? Every few weeks I try to figure out how to set up a static IP but I cannot for the life of me. So it takes 1-2 minutes every time I want to reconnect because not only does it get a dynamic IP by default, it is reset every day or so. Need to go into the VM via Hyper-V, get the current IP address, reset &#x2F;etc&#x2F;hosts within WSL, reset &#x2F;etc&#x2F;hosts within Windows, SSH into VM within WSL. It drives me nuts.<p>Really looking forward to WSL2 for faster file operations and being able to run all my programs.

Are there any plans to support graphical guest applications running in a native Windows window, like VMWare Fusion? Their client&#x2F;server VS Code demo where only the UI runs in Windows seems really bizarre to me. Why not just run X? I suppose you could pipe X over SSH but it would be nice to get built-in support without the hassle or performance penalty.

After using Linux on the desktop for around two decades, I&#x27;m forced to use Windows 10 since a few months.<p>WSL is what makes it somewhat bearable. I look forward to Windows Terminal and WSL2.

This seems to run on a VM that dynamically adjusts its RAM size according to the current usage. Does a VM like this have any kind of file cache?

I&#x27;m surprised, is integrating a Linux kernel with Windows not a GPL violation? Is this a &quot;mere aggregation&quot; situation? Are the Linux kernel and other closed source Windows code at no point linked, or exchanging complex internal data structures?

I&#x27;d be interested to see a Microsoft backed Wayland implementation to support GUI apps. Basically very similar to how Chrome OS has done it with Crostini. If you&#x27;re interested too vote here:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wpdev.uservoice.com&#x2F;forums&#x2F;266908-command-prompt-console-windows-subsystem-for-l&#x2F;suggestions&#x2F;16524991-wsl-wayland-display-manger-support-may-be-easie" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;wpdev.uservoice.com&#x2F;forums&#x2F;266908-command-prompt-con...</a>

That&#x27;s all cool, but I just learned you can type an exe into Windows Explorer&#x27;s address bar to open it in the current directory. MIND BLOWN.

Since it uses Hyper-V, does that mean it won&#x27;t work anymore on the Home editions of Windows 10?

I&#x27;d really like for this to support accelerated graphics - unfortunately I imagine that would require a comprehensive solution to GPU virtualisation at the DirectX level, which would at least need to be implemented in drivers - if not also supported at the hardware level.<p>Without that, then the main reason that I&#x27;d even be using the subsystem - GPU compute - is unavailable, and I&#x27;ll need to actually boot into Linux if I want to do anything useful.

Sounds like Docker for Mac for Windows. Might have some of the same shared FS consistency issues from running two full kernels with their own FS caching hierarchies.

Why would I want to run a proprietary, closed-source implementation of what is supposed to be an open source operating system?

This way ZOL also works on windows. Might make me switch to windows where i occasionally play windows only games.

Why isn’t windows just built on Linux at this point are there reasons for MS to maintain their own kernel? There must be people inside of MS asking this just like how edge is now built on chromium...

It&#x27;d be awesome if nmap and other network tools work in WSL2.

Just release Office for Linux and this wouldn&#x27;t be necessary at all.