What is this?
Windows Subsystem for Linux: a way to run Linux command-line tools, utilities and applications unmodified, directly on Windows, without the overhead of a traditional VM or a dual-boot setup.
Windows Subsystem for Linux: a way to run Linux command-line tools, utilities and applications unmodified, directly on Windows, without the overhead of a traditional VM or a dual-boot setup.So is it a full virtual machine, or something lighter?Something lighter: WSL is a subsystem that runs your Linux tools directly on Windows — no virtual machine to administer and no rebooting into another OS. This repository holds the open-source WSL codebase itself.
Something lighter: WSL is a subsystem that runs your Linux tools directly on Windows — no virtual machine to administer and no rebooting into another OS. This repository holds the open-source WSL codebase itself.How do I get it running?One command from your Windows command line installs it right away: wsl --install. For setup best practices and overviews, the README points to the WSL documentation page (aka.ms/wsldocs).
One command from your Windows command line installs it right away: wsl --install. For setup best practices and overviews, the README points to the WSL documentation page (aka.ms/wsldocs).Do I need to prepare anything first — a Linux ISO, VirtualBox, extra downloads?Nothing like that is required: installation is a single command, and the Linux kernel itself ships with WSL, coming from the companion microsoft/WSL2-Linux-Kernel repository.
Nothing like that is required: installation is a single command, and the Linux kernel itself ships with WSL, coming from the companion microsoft/WSL2-Linux-Kernel repository.Can it run Linux GUI apps, or is it terminal-only?The core focus is command-line tools, utilities and applications, but GUI apps are covered too: graphical Linux apps in WSL are handled by the companion microsoft/WSLg repository.
The core focus is command-line tools, utilities and applications, but GUI apps are covered too: graphical Linux apps in WSL are handled by the companion microsoft/WSLg repository.Does WSL send any of my data to Microsoft?Yes, by default the app logs basic diagnostic telemetry that may be sent to Microsoft, though the README says you can turn telemetry off as described in the repository.
Yes, by default the app logs basic diagnostic telemetry that may be sent to Microsoft, though the README says you can turn telemetry off as described in the repository.Is WSL free to use?Yes — this repository is open source under the MIT license, so installing and using WSL costs nothing.
Yes — this repository is open source under the MIT license, so installing and using WSL costs nothing.How mature is this project?It is an established Microsoft project: the repository dates back to April 2016 and has roughly 34,000 stars.
It is an established Microsoft project: the repository dates back to April 2016 and has roughly 34,000 stars.What are similar projects?nvx, WSL2-Linux-Kernel, wslg, TurboBench, winget-cli, graphrag, edit, CopyQ
nvx, WSL2-Linux-Kernel, wslg, TurboBench, winget-cli, graphrag, edit, CopyQWhich topics is it in?linux-kernel, operating-system, virtualization, microsoft, cpp, c++, command-line, gui, terminal, tool, cli, developer-tools
linux-kernel, operating-system, virtualization, microsoft, cpp, c++, command-line, gui, terminal, tool, cli, developer-tools