Linux in WSL 2 of Windows 11 and Windows 10

johnprogrammer · 01-07-2022, 02:59 PM

My current Linux installation: Ubuntu 21.10 in WSL 2 of Windows 11.

I installed it with: https://github.com/nullpo-head/wsl-distrod

It can install various distributions, with systemd enabled, and GUI Linux app integration with Windows 11 working.

Works fine with Windows 10 WSL 2 (but without GUI Linux apps integration of course).

Some other useful links, for people who are interested in trying WSL 2 in Windows 11 and Windows 10:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl

(check the documentation tree on the left side)

For Windows 11 only users:

From the above link:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...rials/gui-apps

https://github.com/microsoft/wslg

(the official source code site, of the graphics part of WSL 2, provided by Windows 11).

Long time Linux user here, recently migrated to Windows 11 from Manjaro MATE.

My opinion for Windows 11 WSL 2 is that it works well, and I am looking forward to seeing the improvements Microsoft will provide in the future.

My experience is that with WSL 2 in existence, more Windows users are testing Linux in it, who would not try any Linux distribution if WSL 2 did not exist.

So I think WSL 2 actually helps Linux adoption for the desktop.

Some notes: In Windows 11, WSL 2 provides its own Wayland Compositor (Weston), its own X.Org-compatible server (XWayland), and its own PulseAudio server.

So, do not try to install explicitly Wayland, X.Org, or PulseAudio from the package repositories yourself.

Install graphical applications in the following style (the examples use the Debian/Ubuntu package manager)

Code:

sudo apt install gedit (installs Gedit text editor)

sudo apt install firefox (installs Firefox)

sudo apt install LibreOffice (installs LibreOffice)

The default Linux distributions provided by WSL 2 itself, and those provided by Distrod (mentioned in the beginning), work with the WSL-provided servers without issues.

What is your opinion for WSL 2? Have you tested it?

rclark · 01-07-2022, 06:12 PM

Why would a Linux user even try WSL 2 to begin with? To do that means you'd have to purchase a copy Windows 11 and then install ... (probably need a Pro version?). I, for one, have no reason to do that as I've been Windows free for years now. No reason to go back (wards?) into that merry-go-round!

johnprogrammer · 01-07-2022, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rclark

Why would a Linux user even try WSL 2 to begin with? To do that means you'd have to purchase a copy Windows 11 and then install ... (probably need a Pro version?). I, for one, have no reason to do that as I've been Windows free for years now. No reason to go back (wards?) into that merry-go-round!

WSL 2 is available in Windows Home edition too.

I think WSL is a new option for those that need it.

Myself was using Manjaro Linux, but I had two issues. Netflix does not support Linux for 1080p or higher resolution, you need some third party extension in Firefox.

In gaming, Windows has more commercial games than Linux, however with Steam the situation has improved a lot.

By using Windows and WSL, I get the benefits of watching Netflix, some decent gaming, and having all Linux facilities I need.

Others use Linux in desktop exclusively, for example reading sites on the web, with no fear for viruses, since they use their distribution's package repositories.

syg00 · 01-07-2022, 07:03 PM

I have used it since it was a beta. I'm basically a CLI type so it was handy to be able to run awk or perl on Windoze without having to bother with a full VM hyper-visor. More so now that WSL2 implementation is a true lightweight client.
My needs are minial, but it is handy. Also saves me having to learn powershell.

boughtonp · 01-08-2022, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

I'm basically a CLI type so it was handy to be able to run awk or perl on Windoze without having to bother with a full VM hyper-visor.

This had already been possible for over a decade, long before Windows 10 or WSLv1 was announced.

johnprogrammer · 01-08-2022, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boughtonp

This had already been possible for over a decade, long before Windows 10 or WSLv1 was announced.

I think it is far easier in the form of a fully working Linux terminal.

mjolnir · 01-09-2022, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

I have used it since it was a beta. I'm basically a CLI type so it was handy to be able to run awk or perl on Windoze without having to bother with a full VM hyper-visor. More so now that WSL2 implementation is a true lightweight client.
My needs are minial, but it is handy. Also saves me having to learn powershell.

Same here along with some simple text, image and video processing from the cli is about all I truly need from linux.

boughtonp · 01-09-2022, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnprogrammer

I think it is far easier in the form of a fully working Linux terminal.

What do you mean by a "fully working Linux terminal"?

WSL2 does not yet provide a fully working Linux-based OS, not even with WSLg.

If someone merely want to run Awk and/or Perl scripts in a Bash shell, they don't need Linux; GNU will do.

(Likewise, with text, image and video processing.)

johnprogrammer · 01-09-2022, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boughtonp

What do you mean by a "fully working Linux terminal"?
WSL2 does not yet provide a fully working Linux-based OS, not even with WSLg.

If someone merely want to run Awk and/or Perl scripts in a Bash shell, they don't need Linux; GNU will do.

(Likewise, with text, image and video processing.)

What do not work:

1. The command ps is not working for displaying windows processes running outside the Linux instance. But it works for Windows processes running inside the Linux instance.

2. Similarly, Linux network utilities, like ss -utp, do not report the host's open connections, for clients/servers running outside the Linux instance, and network utilities like ifconfig, do not report the host's IP address in the LAN outside the Linux instance.

The workaround for the first, is running the Windows command line programs tasklist.exe and taskkill.exe.

For the second, it is running the Windows network command line programs like netstat.exe, ipconfig.exe.

See the images attached.

Everything else seems to work fine (I do not know if the ZFS server issue mentioned in the link you provided, applies to Linux distributions installed with Distrod).

Microsoft has announced it is committing to improve the WSL integration in the future.

Notes:

To get the split vertical view shown in the first image, you press alt-shift-plus in the Windows Terminal. To get split horizontal view, you press alt-shift-minus.

Windows Terminal is available for Windows 10 here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/wi...ot:overviewtab