5 ms·

Is WSL still opt-in? Something to be aware of for power users, but most Windows users are never going to know about or figure out how to turn on WSL (at least a

Is WSL still opt-in? Something to be aware of for power users, but most Windows users are never going to know about or figure out how to turn on WSL (at least as of the last time I tried it).

legobmw99 5y ago
Yes, and I believe enabling it requires administrative rights so the risk to a lot of organizations with locked down Windows installs is minimal unless they’ve enabled WSL intentionally
- willis936 5y ago
  Pretty much all government contractors use windows for bureaucratic and spying purposes. Good luck convincing your security-minded boss to let you have a linux playground when it increases attack surface area.
- dudus 5y ago
  I got WSL setup in my computer without the admin rights.
  - tyingq 5y ago
    That's interesting. The mainline builds seem to require running dism.exe with admin rights, and the preview builds require running "wsl.exe --install" with admin rights. Curious how you got around that.
  - wizzwizz4 5y ago
    Sure you didn't just get it without UAC? If you actually don't have admin rights, was this WSL1?
    - dudus 5y ago
      I honestly don't remember how I did it. But I have WSL2 with ubuntu. I know ubuntu I downloaded from the windows app store.
tyingq 5y ago
The install process for WSL is still fairly complex for mainline Windows builds. However, in the preview channel, it's mostly just "wsl.exe --install". And that wsl.exe ships with the preview builds. I can see this being a bigger target once that feature is pushed down to the mainline windows builds. It does still require admin rights. See: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10
ineedasername 5y ago
It's not something a consumer will do by accident, and IIRC the last time I set up Enterprise on my work machines I also had to activate itanually.
geek_at 5y ago
Most Windows users are also never going to know how to get Microsoft Office on their Computer when it doesn't come preinstalled. Usually people have other people who do things like this for them
- smichel17 5y ago
  This comment made me sad, a little. 15 years ago practically everyone would know how to do this: download the installer from Microsoft and run it.
  - vetinari 5y ago
    It was possible to download an installer from Microsoft 15 years ago (except MSDN)? For most people getting Office meant trip to the store and getting a box with physical CD.
    - banana_giraffe 5y ago
      It was: https://web.archive.org/web/20060430185620/http://g.msn.com/mh_mshp/98765?http://office.microsoft.com/home/default.aspx&&HL=Office&CM=Navigation&CE=productFamilies https://web.archive.org/web/20060430185620/http://g.msn.com/... A link to download an Office Trial, which at the time was just the full version of office which worked without a key for a trial period. I seem to recall there was an online store for Office to purchase a key. Though, I suspect you're right, most people probably bought a box back then. These days, I'd expect the average consumer to use the preloaded Office stubs on new PCs.
      - DoctorOW 5y ago
        This seems like a symptom of forgetting 2006 was 15 years ago. I did the math this time but if someone off hand mentions 20 years ago I still think of the 90s.
    - smichel17 5y ago
      Ha, you're right, I might have overshot my time period a little. I was thinking Windows 7 era, plus some late Vista/XP. Wikipedia tells me Windows 7 was released in 2009, so my statement would probably hold better if I'd said "around 10 years ago". But on the whole I think it's close enough :)

Is WSL still opt-in? Something to be aware of for power users, but most Windows users are never going to know about or figure out how to turn on WSL (at least as of the last time I tried it).

legobmw99 5y ago

Yes, and I believe enabling it requires administrative rights so the risk to a lot of organizations with locked down Windows installs is minimal unless they’ve enabled WSL intentionally

willis936 5y ago
Pretty much all government contractors use windows for bureaucratic and spying purposes. Good luck convincing your security-minded boss to let you have a linux playground when it increases attack surface area.
dudus 5y ago
I got WSL setup in my computer without the admin rights.
- tyingq 5y ago
  That's interesting. The mainline builds seem to require running dism.exe with admin rights, and the preview builds require running "wsl.exe --install" with admin rights. Curious how you got around that.
- wizzwizz4 5y ago
  Sure you didn't just get it without UAC? If you actually don't have admin rights, was this WSL1?
  - dudus 5y ago
    I honestly don't remember how I did it. But I have WSL2 with ubuntu. I know ubuntu I downloaded from the windows app store.

tyingq 5y ago

The install process for WSL is still fairly complex for mainline Windows builds. However, in the preview channel, it's mostly just "wsl.exe --install". And that wsl.exe ships with the preview builds. I can see this being a bigger target once that feature is pushed down to the mainline windows builds. It does still require admin rights. See: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10

ineedasername 5y ago

It's not something a consumer will do by accident, and IIRC the last time I set up Enterprise on my work machines I also had to activate itanually.

geek_at 5y ago

Most Windows users are also never going to know how to get Microsoft Office on their Computer when it doesn't come preinstalled. Usually people have other people who do things like this for them

smichel17 5y ago
This comment made me sad, a little. 15 years ago practically everyone would know how to do this: download the installer from Microsoft and run it.
- vetinari 5y ago
  It was possible to download an installer from Microsoft 15 years ago (except MSDN)? For most people getting Office meant trip to the store and getting a box with physical CD.
  - banana_giraffe 5y ago
    It was: https://web.archive.org/web/20060430185620/http://g.msn.com/mh_mshp/98765?http://office.microsoft.com/home/default.aspx&&HL=Office&CM=Navigation&CE=productFamilies https://web.archive.org/web/20060430185620/http://g.msn.com/... A link to download an Office Trial, which at the time was just the full version of office which worked without a key for a trial period. I seem to recall there was an online store for Office to purchase a key. Though, I suspect you're right, most people probably bought a box back then. These days, I'd expect the average consumer to use the preloaded Office stubs on new PCs.
    - DoctorOW 5y ago
      This seems like a symptom of forgetting 2006 was 15 years ago. I did the math this time but if someone off hand mentions 20 years ago I still think of the 90s.
  - smichel17 5y ago
    Ha, you're right, I might have overshot my time period a little. I was thinking Windows 7 era, plus some late Vista/XP. Wikipedia tells me Windows 7 was released in 2009, so my statement would probably hold better if I'd said "around 10 years ago". But on the whole I think it's close enough :)