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Microsoft has a different moral compass nowadays. They need Linux to survive to grow their business so it makes sense to integrate such support into their deskt

Microsoft has a different moral compass nowadays. They need Linux to survive to grow their business so it makes sense to integrate such support into their desktop environment. We all win.

zarkov99 6y ago
It also makes sense if you want to keep developers from switching to Linux desktops. I for one, think that most developers, especially young ones, would be far better off migrating fully to Linux.
- tsimionescu 6y ago
  Most developers work in huge companies that give them a workstation with Windows pre-installed, mostly because Windows is much easier to administrate at scale.
  - zarkov99 6y ago
    Is that really true if the users are experienced in Linux?
    - sys_64738 6y ago
      It is as you just re-image a laptop if it goes awry. AD is everywhere so that's how you can control and lockdown. I can't even install non-approved apps on my developer laptop running Windows. I can't install approved apps either without the correct authority from three layers of management.
    - GordonS 6y ago
      Yes. Huge companies don't care one iota what you are experienced with - everyone gets a standard-build Windows machine (loaded with antivirus, endpoint protection and DLP, which combined use half of your CPU), or if you build for iOS, a standard-build MacOS machine. Linux is huge in the server space in big business, and completely insignificant in the desktop space.
- coldtea 6y ago
  >It also makes sense if you want to keep developers from switching to Linux desktops Well, the huge majority of developers didn't switch en masse to Linux desktops for like 3 decades. The Linux desktop stats were still meagre, even right before WSL. It wasn't about to happen now... This is more about making existing Windows using devs life easier for working with Docker / etc to develop for the Linux-driven server side (which has been a think for 2+ decades), than about preventing them from switching to Linux. If anything, this is the opposite. It helps introduce the 95% of Windows using devs to Linux and UNIX userland while they're still on Windows -- which could serve as a gateway to using Linux directly.
- ThrowawayR2 6y ago
  Nobody was switching to Linux on the desktop; its desktop market share has remained steadily negligible for the past twenty years. I'll wager this is aimed at unseating Mac as the UNIX-alike development environment of choice.
rvz 6y ago
> We all win. Windows users win. The Linux desktop loses. The Linux desktop has now been made even more irrelevant for new developers as Microsoft merges it with a Windows desktop.
- snarfy 6y ago
  Wayland was released 12 years ago. Should we keep waiting? The Linux desktop already lost. You can attribute it to a lot of things, but it's nothing to do with WSL.
  - rvz 6y ago
    Well now WSL has given a clear migration path for Deep learning enthusiasts and professionals to be able to develop and test their models locally, before deployment without installing a Linux desktop. Gamers and normal users don't care about using wine on Linux for running their Windows apps, when they can keep running the same Windows apps and games and run Linux apps on the Windows desktop. Thus have little to no reason to switch to desktop Linux.

Microsoft has a different moral compass nowadays. They need Linux to survive to grow their business so it makes sense to integrate such support into their desktop environment. We all win.

zarkov99 6y ago

It also makes sense if you want to keep developers from switching to Linux desktops. I for one, think that most developers, especially young ones, would be far better off migrating fully to Linux.

tsimionescu 6y ago
Most developers work in huge companies that give them a workstation with Windows pre-installed, mostly because Windows is much easier to administrate at scale.
- zarkov99 6y ago
  Is that really true if the users are experienced in Linux?
  - sys_64738 6y ago
    It is as you just re-image a laptop if it goes awry. AD is everywhere so that's how you can control and lockdown. I can't even install non-approved apps on my developer laptop running Windows. I can't install approved apps either without the correct authority from three layers of management.
  - GordonS 6y ago
    Yes. Huge companies don't care one iota what you are experienced with - everyone gets a standard-build Windows machine (loaded with antivirus, endpoint protection and DLP, which combined use half of your CPU), or if you build for iOS, a standard-build MacOS machine. Linux is huge in the server space in big business, and completely insignificant in the desktop space.
coldtea 6y ago
>It also makes sense if you want to keep developers from switching to Linux desktops Well, the huge majority of developers didn't switch en masse to Linux desktops for like 3 decades. The Linux desktop stats were still meagre, even right before WSL. It wasn't about to happen now... This is more about making existing Windows using devs life easier for working with Docker / etc to develop for the Linux-driven server side (which has been a think for 2+ decades), than about preventing them from switching to Linux. If anything, this is the opposite. It helps introduce the 95% of Windows using devs to Linux and UNIX userland while they're still on Windows -- which could serve as a gateway to using Linux directly.
ThrowawayR2 6y ago
Nobody was switching to Linux on the desktop; its desktop market share has remained steadily negligible for the past twenty years. I'll wager this is aimed at unseating Mac as the UNIX-alike development environment of choice.

rvz 6y ago

> We all win. Windows users win. The Linux desktop loses. The Linux desktop has now been made even more irrelevant for new developers as Microsoft merges it with a Windows desktop.

snarfy 6y ago
Wayland was released 12 years ago. Should we keep waiting? The Linux desktop already lost. You can attribute it to a lot of things, but it's nothing to do with WSL.
- rvz 6y ago
  Well now WSL has given a clear migration path for Deep learning enthusiasts and professionals to be able to develop and test their models locally, before deployment without installing a Linux desktop. Gamers and normal users don't care about using wine on Linux for running their Windows apps, when they can keep running the same Windows apps and games and run Linux apps on the Windows desktop. Thus have little to no reason to switch to desktop Linux.