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I'm not sure it's fair to call WSL2 an escape hatch. I use Windows for work because I like the more polished experience of the desktop, but I can just open up a

by cxcorp 5y ago

I'm not sure it's fair to call WSL2 an escape hatch. I use Windows for work because I like the more polished experience of the desktop, but I can just open up a Windows terminal instance and I've got a linux shell (via WSL2). And best of all, I can access the files directly with `explorer.exe .` if I need to.

executesorder66 5y ago
WSL2 is literally a whole OS shipped alongside windows. (with nice integration done by the windows devs) Regardless of the implementation, the fact that you have to use it in the first place instead of native windows tools speaks volumes about how useless windows is for development. I can not fathom how anyone can consider it anything other than an "escape hatch".
- beej71 5y ago
  For the type of work I do, Linux or Mac or WSL works. My preference also falls in that order, but WSL really does make Windows pretty painless for me. Now if they just ditch it all for Linux+WINE, that'd be great. ;-)
- trhoad 5y ago
  Strictly speaking, it's not a "whole OS shipped alongside windows". It's an interop layer to allow you to interact with GNU based operating systems from Windows. Linux (or Debian etc.) is the OS.
Symbiote 5y ago
I use KDE for the more-polished experience on the desktop: https://imgur.com/a/7FOZkdk https://imgur.com/a/7FOZkdk I have the Zsh terminal directly in the file explorer (slightly hidden in the screenshot), and also the KDE text editor (Kate). With the tab completion in Zsh, I often find it faster to navigate with "cd w-a/s/m/r/c/e/as<TAB><ENTER>" to go to "/home/symbiote/Workspace/work-app/src/main/resources/com/example/assets" than by clicking. I also use KDE for the wide range of configuration options. From scratch, it takes me about 5 minutes to go through all the settings to put everything as I like it -- of course, this is only necessary on a completely new system, e.g. at a new job. On the screenshot, I think the only visible change from default is the ^^ and vv buttons next to minimize/maximize, which are "Keep this window above/below" toggles. Invisible things are mostly keyboard shortcuts for moving windows around, mouse behaviour, auto-starting apps etc.

by cxcorp 5y ago

executesorder66 5y ago

WSL2 is literally a whole OS shipped alongside windows. (with nice integration done by the windows devs) Regardless of the implementation, the fact that you have to use it in the first place instead of native windows tools speaks volumes about how useless windows is for development. I can not fathom how anyone can consider it anything other than an "escape hatch".

beej71 5y ago
For the type of work I do, Linux or Mac or WSL works. My preference also falls in that order, but WSL really does make Windows pretty painless for me. Now if they just ditch it all for Linux+WINE, that'd be great. ;-)
trhoad 5y ago
Strictly speaking, it's not a "whole OS shipped alongside windows". It's an interop layer to allow you to interact with GNU based operating systems from Windows. Linux (or Debian etc.) is the OS.

Symbiote 5y ago

I use KDE for the more-polished experience on the desktop: https://imgur.com/a/7FOZkdk https://imgur.com/a/7FOZkdk I have the Zsh terminal directly in the file explorer (slightly hidden in the screenshot), and also the KDE text editor (Kate). With the tab completion in Zsh, I often find it faster to navigate with "cd w-a/s/m/r/c/e/as<TAB><ENTER>" to go to "/home/symbiote/Workspace/work-app/src/main/resources/com/example/assets" than by clicking. I also use KDE for the wide range of configuration options. From scratch, it takes me about 5 minutes to go through all the settings to put everything as I like it -- of course, this is only necessary on a completely new system, e.g. at a new job. On the screenshot, I think the only visible change from default is the ^^ and vv buttons next to minimize/maximize, which are "Keep this window above/below" toggles. Invisible things are mostly keyboard shortcuts for moving windows around, mouse behaviour, auto-starting apps etc.