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I'm sure that their whole "windows subsystem for linux" revival is actually a long game that started with secure boot. Give it a couple of years and we'll be u

I'm sure that their whole "windows subsystem for linux" revival is actually a long game that started with secure boot. Give it a couple of years and we'll be unable to boot an unsigned kernel on x86 (as well as arm) at which point the response is going to be "Why do you care? You can boot a linux kernel in windows!"

_bxg1 7y ago
This may happen for workstations, but I think Linux will continue to be popular on servers. In that context, the cost/benefit of running it on top of Windows won't make any sense. But Windows could very well become the de-facto workstation, even for people who only deploy to Linux servers.
newnewpdro 7y ago
I'm with you here, but you didn't need WSL to boot other operating systems in windows. It's just a VM, that's been possible for some time now.
marcosdumay 7y ago
> You can boot a linux kernel in windows! That won't fly, but you can always run Microsoft Linux.
tracker1 7y ago
I'm pretty sure WSL is because of the number of server-side tools that don't work well in Windows, and that over half of Azure deployments are non-windows. And that in order to make Azure devs happy, supporting Linux without a fully abstracted VM is best.
- WorldMaker 7y ago
  Also the huge number of developers over the last few decades that switched full time to macOS and claim having a Unix shell was a big reason. You could very easily see that at any major dev conference all the Apple machines (often with at least one GitHub sticker), including Microsoft's own Xamarin conferences (and now that they own GitHub too, GitHub conferences and sticker counts ;). That's an interesting audience of developers for Microsoft to try to make happy again on Windows.
  - tracker1 7y ago
    True enough... and while I tend to use bash on windows for my work laptop, I'm giving Linux another go as my primary OS at home when I refresh my desktop in a few months.
tokai 7y ago
So GNU/NT will happen before GNU/Hurd.. :(

_bxg1 7y ago

This may happen for workstations, but I think Linux will continue to be popular on servers. In that context, the cost/benefit of running it on top of Windows won't make any sense. But Windows could very well become the de-facto workstation, even for people who only deploy to Linux servers.

newnewpdro 7y ago

I'm with you here, but you didn't need WSL to boot other operating systems in windows. It's just a VM, that's been possible for some time now.

marcosdumay 7y ago

> You can boot a linux kernel in windows! That won't fly, but you can always run Microsoft Linux.

tracker1 7y ago

I'm pretty sure WSL is because of the number of server-side tools that don't work well in Windows, and that over half of Azure deployments are non-windows. And that in order to make Azure devs happy, supporting Linux without a fully abstracted VM is best.

WorldMaker 7y ago
Also the huge number of developers over the last few decades that switched full time to macOS and claim having a Unix shell was a big reason. You could very easily see that at any major dev conference all the Apple machines (often with at least one GitHub sticker), including Microsoft's own Xamarin conferences (and now that they own GitHub too, GitHub conferences and sticker counts ;). That's an interesting audience of developers for Microsoft to try to make happy again on Windows.
- tracker1 7y ago
  True enough... and while I tend to use bash on windows for my work laptop, I'm giving Linux another go as my primary OS at home when I refresh my desktop in a few months.

tokai 7y ago

So GNU/NT will happen before GNU/Hurd.. :(