6 ms·

I've been using WSL2 for the last few months. I never thought I would see the day I prefer Windows to OSX AND Linux for a development environment, but that day

I've been using WSL2 for the last few months. I never thought I would see the day I prefer Windows to OSX AND Linux for a development environment, but that day has come. I am ASTOUNDED by how well WSL2 works, especially when integrated with VSCode. For a much better terminal experience, I recommend Windows Terminal. Easy to configure, works great.

learc83 6y ago
Same here except that I'm using neovim. I recently retired the Linux server I used to remotely access from my Windows desktop to do dev work on.
pssdbt 6y ago
Curious, what does Windows bring to the table that someone would prefer it over just Linux? I did the whole development with WSL2 thing for a bit, and it sort of worked OK, but then I setup dual boot and it's so much nicer to have a minimal WM / lighter OS / Windows out of the way.
- swiley 6y ago
  It helps remind you to stand up and drink water every other week.
- extralego 6y ago
  For me, the answer is dispiriting: Photoshop and Illustrator. There is no other way to have a standard Linux distro and Photoshop on the same workstation without some far out hacks.
  - pssdbt 6y ago
    For sure. For Adobe products I would be all Windows/Mac.
- shados 6y ago
  I can think of a few things. First, you get Windows for everything else (if you use the machine for personal stuff, gaming, need Office desktop apps, if you need Photoshop, etc). You get a lot of that on Mac though (well, less so on the gaming front, but Macs have some apps that aren't on Windows too). But that's "real" Linux, so you don't have to spend time installing GNU tooling or fighting with brew. Dual booting can get annoying, because you have to, well, reboot. You don't have to worry about hardware. Linux has come a long way, but there's still the random peripherical that doesn't work, or some where the configuration software is Windows only. It's pretty easy to avoid hardware that won't work with Linux, but in this world you don't even have to worry about that. Especially relevant in the desktop space where you have to look at every component. WSL2 also has some interesting benefits, like being able to install a couple of different distros, or wipe out and start over in a few seconds if you screw things up. It's kind of the docker experience without docker. In the corporate world, it also means not having to convince your employer to get a Linux install they'll support. The company I work for only allows Windows or Macs. Sure, I've worked at big companies where after some back and forth with IT we could get Linux on the PC machines, but it's nice not even have to go through the hoops. There's some drawbacks: interop between the WSL2 file system and the Windows one works fantastic, but it's FREAKISHLY SLOW. If you're trying to git clone a big repo or npm install a big library and you're crossing boundaries between the two system, you're not going to be happy (as long as you stay within the WSL world you're fine though). GUI apps are an issue. It's pretty easy to get most apps working using a Windows compatible X Server, but hardware acceleration is an issue. It looks like it might be possible to get working, but I sure as hell haven't been able to. The team is working on an official way to run GUI apps without going the X Server forwarding path, but it's not there yet. For now it works fine for simple things, like terminals and text editors, but trying to use Google Maps in Firefox is simply not useable (but it does work!). I'm one of those weird people who actually likes Windows, and for 99% of my development use cases, Windows + WSL2 let's me do everything I need with zero compromise, and without having to reboot all the time. I can have a Windows-only game running with my Linux terminal open to do some development while I'm waiting for a group in my favorite MMO. Docker + WSL2 is great too.
  - honkycat 6y ago
    I cannot improve on this answer, totally nailed it. I would like to emphasize the fact that I can get a windows machine and run WSL on it, and not get a bunch of eye-rolls from my IT director. Additionally: Linux laptops are pretty OK, but Windows power profiles and power management make battery life on a windows machine MUCH better.
- thrownaway954 6y ago
  it's not just windows per say, the fact that you can have multiple linux installations without going through the hassle of setting up something like vmware or virtualbox (with all of their quirks) is such a timesaver.
  - rbanffy 6y ago
    It's kind of trivial to do that with Docker, either on Linux or on a Mac. On Linux you also have KVM and, on Ubuntu, you have LXC.
the8472 6y ago
> I am ASTOUNDED by how well WSL2 works Do they expose hardware perf counters in the VM? I.e. can you run instruction profilers?

learc83 6y ago

Same here except that I'm using neovim. I recently retired the Linux server I used to remotely access from my Windows desktop to do dev work on.

pssdbt 6y ago

Curious, what does Windows bring to the table that someone would prefer it over just Linux? I did the whole development with WSL2 thing for a bit, and it sort of worked OK, but then I setup dual boot and it's so much nicer to have a minimal WM / lighter OS / Windows out of the way.

swiley 6y ago
It helps remind you to stand up and drink water every other week.
extralego 6y ago
For me, the answer is dispiriting: Photoshop and Illustrator. There is no other way to have a standard Linux distro and Photoshop on the same workstation without some far out hacks.
- pssdbt 6y ago
  For sure. For Adobe products I would be all Windows/Mac.
shados 6y ago
I can think of a few things. First, you get Windows for everything else (if you use the machine for personal stuff, gaming, need Office desktop apps, if you need Photoshop, etc). You get a lot of that on Mac though (well, less so on the gaming front, but Macs have some apps that aren't on Windows too). But that's "real" Linux, so you don't have to spend time installing GNU tooling or fighting with brew. Dual booting can get annoying, because you have to, well, reboot. You don't have to worry about hardware. Linux has come a long way, but there's still the random peripherical that doesn't work, or some where the configuration software is Windows only. It's pretty easy to avoid hardware that won't work with Linux, but in this world you don't even have to worry about that. Especially relevant in the desktop space where you have to look at every component. WSL2 also has some interesting benefits, like being able to install a couple of different distros, or wipe out and start over in a few seconds if you screw things up. It's kind of the docker experience without docker. In the corporate world, it also means not having to convince your employer to get a Linux install they'll support. The company I work for only allows Windows or Macs. Sure, I've worked at big companies where after some back and forth with IT we could get Linux on the PC machines, but it's nice not even have to go through the hoops. There's some drawbacks: interop between the WSL2 file system and the Windows one works fantastic, but it's FREAKISHLY SLOW. If you're trying to git clone a big repo or npm install a big library and you're crossing boundaries between the two system, you're not going to be happy (as long as you stay within the WSL world you're fine though). GUI apps are an issue. It's pretty easy to get most apps working using a Windows compatible X Server, but hardware acceleration is an issue. It looks like it might be possible to get working, but I sure as hell haven't been able to. The team is working on an official way to run GUI apps without going the X Server forwarding path, but it's not there yet. For now it works fine for simple things, like terminals and text editors, but trying to use Google Maps in Firefox is simply not useable (but it does work!). I'm one of those weird people who actually likes Windows, and for 99% of my development use cases, Windows + WSL2 let's me do everything I need with zero compromise, and without having to reboot all the time. I can have a Windows-only game running with my Linux terminal open to do some development while I'm waiting for a group in my favorite MMO. Docker + WSL2 is great too.
- honkycat 6y ago
  I cannot improve on this answer, totally nailed it. I would like to emphasize the fact that I can get a windows machine and run WSL on it, and not get a bunch of eye-rolls from my IT director. Additionally: Linux laptops are pretty OK, but Windows power profiles and power management make battery life on a windows machine MUCH better.
thrownaway954 6y ago
it's not just windows per say, the fact that you can have multiple linux installations without going through the hassle of setting up something like vmware or virtualbox (with all of their quirks) is such a timesaver.
- rbanffy 6y ago
  It's kind of trivial to do that with Docker, either on Linux or on a Mac. On Linux you also have KVM and, on Ubuntu, you have LXC.

the8472 6y ago

> I am ASTOUNDED by how well WSL2 works Do they expose hardware perf counters in the VM? I.e. can you run instruction profilers?