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Microsoft Linux

Microsoft Puts the Windows Subsystem for Linux in Its App Store for Faster Updating (arstechnica.com) 64

Posted by msmash from the PSA dept.
Microsoft has announced that new WSL features will be even easier to get in the future. From a report: The company has posted a preview version of WSL to the Microsoft Store so that Windows 11 users can download and update WSL independently of other Windows updates. Many of Windows' built-in apps have already moved to being updated through the Microsoft Store rather than through regular Windows Updates. This gives the company more flexibility when deciding when to update apps, though one side effect has been that many of Windows 11's pre-installed apps still haven't been fully updated for Windows 11. But long-term, it also means you don't need to wait for a new Windows update to benefit from updated apps. For WSL, this means you won't need to install major, potentially disruptive Windows updates (like, say, Windows 11) just to take advantage of new WSL additions.
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Microsoft Puts the Windows Subsystem for Linux in Its App Store for Faster Updating More

Microsoft Puts the Windows Subsystem for Linux in Its App Store for Faster Updating

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  • Is Microsoft mandating the use of their "app" store now? Time to make fake accounts just to do work?

    • You could just install Linux and get out of the Windows ecosystem entirely.

      • Does Linux handle corporate mandated applications like Office? And does IT support Linux? If no, then Windows and/or MacOS are the only choices in the enterprise.

        • If you have a job where WSL is useful to you, and your corporate overlords are mandating what OS and software suites you use, your job sucks ass.
          If my boss (the CEO) ever came up to me and told me, "I need you to be using Windows, now, because I need you to use Office instead of LO/OO." I'd laugh at him and tell him to kick rocks. Of course, it would never happen anyway.

          Your argument is certainly true for the people lower down the totem pole technically, but if you use WSL, you should also have freedom o

          • I haven't worked anywhere in twenty years where you could opt out of using Microsoft apps in some way (Outlook and Word). The place prior to that where you didn't need Office was all Sparcstations :-) It doesn't matter what you work on, if you have to read email or have meetings on calendars, then it's Outlook. If you ask IT if you can get a more open standard for messaging services they'll just laugh at you.

            No one is mandating that I use Word. But I will be getting Word docs that won't work with OpenOf

            • I haven't worked anywhere in twenty years where you could opt out of using Microsoft apps in some way (Outlook and Word).

              Unsure how Outlook could be required. Outlook365, maybe.. but you can interact with it via http.
              As for Word, I have yet to find a Word document that I couldn't work with in LO.

              It doesn't matter what you work on, if you have to read email or have meetings on calendars, then it's Outlook. If you ask IT if you can get a more open standard for messaging services they'll just laugh at you.

              Outlook isn't magical in its capacity as a mail client.
              As for calendar integration, it works fine under Gnome. Haven't tried KDE.

              No one is mandating that I use Word. But I will be getting Word docs that won't work with OpenOffice all the time.

              Maybe time to upgrade. I have to interact with 100s of individuals in both my corporation, and partner corporations, and that simply isn't a problem I've had.

              And I will get Excel docs that just don't look right in OO.

              Hah, I can definitely relate to that.
              Fortunate

              • Even if office is required, it is pretty well supported under WINE, so not really sure what the issue is.

                https://appdb.winehq.org/objec... [winehq.org]

                I haven't run into any of the issues your parent post speaks about, and as a former Exchange admin, I cannot conceive of an Exchange installation that wouldn't support Linux, except maybe in healthcare and industries like that. The admin would have had to disable large aspects of Exchange in order to get it into that condition. OWA is pretty functional, and many people

            • It doesn't matter what you work on, if you have to read email or have meetings on calendars, then it's Outlook.

              My meetings and calendar sync just fine from the Exchange server to the mail and calendar apps on my iPad and iPhone.

          • Aren't you special. Mind you wear your hockey helmet.

            • Just pointing out the reality of the situation. If you're one of those who is forced to use such software, all I've done is pointed out your position. If that makes you feel like shit, get a better job.

          • "If you have a job where WSL is useful to you, and your corporate overlords are mandating what OS and software suites you use, your job sucks ass."

            How do you describe somebody who measures the quality of a job by whether or not they agree with the company's choice of productivity software?

            • How do you describe somebody who measures the quality of a job by whether or not they agree with the company's choice of productivity software?

              Depends. How would you describe somebody who measures the quality of a job by whether or not they agree with the company's choice of wrench?
              You have a job.
              If your job is to produce things (which it most likely is, if you actually need WSL) and your company is trying to dictate what you can and cannot use to do so, your job sucks. Just like if your job were a carpenter, and your employer restricted you to a specific brand of tape measure.

              However, I suspect it's really a non-issue.
              If you're an engineer,

          • If you have a job where WSL is useful to you, and your corporate overlords are mandating what OS and software suites you use, your job sucks ass.

            Ahh to not live in the real world. What bliss it would be.

            Look, increasingly centrally deployed SOE type windows only shops are going out of fashion and even the bigger places are realising there are alternatives.

            However

            Its rare that that decision is going to be up to you, and especially in larger organizations SOE is still the rule , not the exception.

            Get used to

            • Ahh to not live in the real world. What bliss it would be.

              What world is it you think I live in?

              Its rare that that decision is going to be up to you, and especially in larger organizations SOE is still the rule , not the exception.

              You talk to me as if I had no experience in the matter.
              If it's not up to you, one of 2 things is true:
              1) Your job sucks.
              2) Your job requires little enough specialization that your superiors feel you need potty training.

              Get used to it. It won't last forever. But it might last longer than you or I.

              Speak for yourself.
              It's been over a decade where someone tried to demand what fucking operating system I used on a machine.

              Honest question- do you have a degree? Are you in a design position, or are you in some kind of LOC-pumping code monkeying posi

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

            If you have a job where WSL is useful to you, and your corporate overlords are mandating what OS and software suites you use, your job sucks ass.
            If my boss (the CEO) ever came up to me and told me, "I need you to be using Windows, now, because I need you to use Office instead of LO/OO." I'd laugh at him and tell him to kick rocks. Of course, it would never happen anyway.

            Your argument is certainly true for the people lower down the totem pole technically, but if you use WSL, you should also have freedom of O

            • There's more to a job than the software you use. Our office uses Windows for a lot of things, while developers have access to Linux machines as well.

              Sounds about normal.

              It's mandated to use Office and Outlook, and people who use LibreOffice and OpenOffice end up causing more work because the documents get corrupted in ways that are tedious to fix, notably formatting issues. Fine for internal docs (you can see who uses Linux because the document gets screwed up) but not so great when you're having to send the document out to customers.

              Does your organization lack technical writers, or individuals whose job it is to produce official documents for customres? Why the fuck are its developers sending actual documents to customers?

              But rather than complain about the software, the working environment would matter a lot too. I mean, would you give up a well paying job just because they want you to use Windows? What if it didn't require you to do overtime? Or crunch? Or has decent management where things are scheduled properly? (Yes, well managed places exist).

              I suppose it depends how one defines well-paying.
              The other things are great, of course. But it still sounds like you're just in a very... to put it kindly, powerless situation. Sounds like a code monkey, or some other expendable peon.

          • If you have a job where WSL is useful to you, and your corporate overlords are mandating what OS and software suites you use, your job sucks ass.

            WSL is useful to me because of how I work. Windows is the only supported OS my company offers and it's a Microsoft shop. My job is awesome and I've turned down far better paying ones. If you judge your job entirely based on what OS you are using then my friend I suggest professional therapy.

            • If you judge your job entirely based on what OS you are using then my friend I suggest professional therapy.

              If you're unable to frame an argument without altering it, you probably have an intellectual honesty problem. Unfortunately, there's no professional therapy for that. It's a product of shitty upbringing.

              And your job sucks.

              • If you're unable to frame an argument without altering it

                I'm following your words. Maybe you shouldn't have used them if you didn't intend them to be used this way.

                And your job sucks.

                You don't know what I do, and the only person who can judge that is me. But proclaiming to know otherwise means you either need professional therapy or need to be locked up for stalking me.

                On the other hand we can judge you quite openly based on your attitude.

                Get help man. If for no other reason than to stop everyone from thinking your nothing more than an arsehole.

                • I'm following your words. Maybe you shouldn't have used them if you didn't intend them to be used this way.

                  Wrong.
                  You accuse me of judging a job based upon what OS one was using.
                  I did no such thing.
                  I judged a job based upon being forced to use a specific OS.
                  If you were a mechanic, and forced to use a specific wrench, you'd understand.

                  Am I to take your general inability to distinguish as stupidity rather than intellectual dishonesty?

                  You don't know what I do, and the only person who can judge that is me. But proclaiming to know otherwise means you either need professional therapy or need to be locked up for stalking me.

                  Ah. Stupidity is becoming more likely.

                  Yes, your job sucks. I'm sorry you're struggling with that.

        • I use the web versions of corporate mandated applications along with LibreOffice and don't have any issues in my enterprise. I am IT so yes I do support Linux :)

          • Actually a big concern is what to do about Linux. Our IT is seriously souring on MacOS, there aren't as many who can support it which adds to the expense. So how does IT deal with some random user that wants Linux? Now you've got to supply a VPN solution for Linux, an anti-malware for Linux, ensure that vital upgrades and patches get installed as needed, etc. Do you just say "Well, we trust Bob to do the right thing" and stay hands off?

            Back when I was at Nokia there was an official Nokia Linux and you g

            • That stuff is all possible (with the exception of anti-malware, I tried to get Symantec running on Linux and they only support 2 years old versions of Ubuntu, what a joke). Mac management exists but is a pain, but so is the Windows stuff. Techs just have more experience with it. But yeah basically trust Bob and lock down what you can. Anyway my point is I use the MS webapps and LibreOffice in a mostly Windows environment and I get by just fine. Admittedly I do have Windows VMs for tasks that require it, but

      • Great, can you point me towards the Linux build of Solidworks?

        • Not a lot of intersection between WSL and SolidWorks.

          Let's be honest. The most complicated software suite you use at work is the POS system.

      • You could just install Linux and get out of the Windows ecosystem entirely.

        Not if you are using a corporate laptop.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Some people need Windows because the software they use doesn't work under WINE. Visual Studio is a great example of that.

        They could use a VM I guess, but WSL uses a lot less memory. If it meets their needs then it's probably the best option to run both Windows and Linux software at the moment.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Rhipf ( 525263 )

        Is Microsoft mandating the use of their "app" store now?

        No.
        If you have no need for WSL (or other Windows apps) then there is no need to use the Microsoft Store and no need to "make fake accounts just to do work".

        It really isn't much different than Apple using the App Store to store macOS updates. I'm sure if you are really opposed to using the Microsoft store there will be someplace you can download WSL directly from a Microsoft site. It is just faster and easier for them to put updates on the store than to push them out using Windows Update.

    • Is Microsoft mandating the use of their "app" store now? Time to make fake accounts just to do work?

      Who cares? You link it to your gmail and you're done. Doesn't seem too intrusive to me, but I do all my work in Linux and just go over to Windows for games, so I could be missing something. You need an account for Apple as well, so it seems like the new norm. It seems like MS isn't really bothering collecting license revenue any more, so I am not sure I why I care if they know who I am.

      • I have no Apple account for my MacOS in the past. It was not required for most things. Though recently it seems to require it (or developer id) for Xcode, which I don't use.

        It seems highly intrusive Windows 10 doesn't require a Microsoft account. And no one in the history of the universe has ever asked for an email address merely so that they could provide you with better customer support. It has always been done for marketing and sales purposes. I don't want Microsoft spam or sales offers or tracking.

    • Didn't you hear, Walled Gardens are the future of computing. How else can you lock people into subscriptions?

    • Open up Powershell or the Command Prompt and type:
      wsl --install

      The app store is just to make de-couple it from Windows updates.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • This is a change then. Back in Windows 8 it was required to use an account to get a free app downloaded.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by _merlin ( 160982 )

          Iâ(TM)ve never used Windows 8, but I can confirm on Win10 the store can be used to download free apps without an account (e.g. Intel GPU control panel, updates for things like the Windows Calculator, etc.).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mascot ( 120795 )

      As far as I can tell you don't need to login to the Microsoft Store in order to download free applications. I think it used to be that way, but MS changed their mind at some point.

    • Technically no [intowindows.com] - you don't need an account. However some publishers may choose to release apps via the Windows Store, as MSI installers, as self-installing EXE files, or as zip files scattered throughout their documents folder and cloud-synched for reasons nobody will ever fully understand.

      Can I sudo apt-get install wine to install Wine from the Debian store?

    • Is Microsoft mandating the use of their "app" store now?

      No one is forcing you to install WSL through the store. If you don't have the store or a microsoft account just open Powershell and run "wsl --install".

      In other news the fact Ubuntu has an app store doesn't prevent me from compiling from source.

      Less outrage posting please.

  • ...without any of Microsoft's 'Windows' malware. Linux has won & it's only a matter of time before it takes over, in some places faster than in others.

  • WINE has been in Linux distros' "app stores" for ages now.

  • Windows updates (like, say, Windows 11) just to take advantage of new WSL additions.

    Except their biggest WSL function requires Windows 11 (WSLg). It may be the only functional addition that Windows 11 brings in general, mostly Windows 11 is cosmetic rework and function removal, seemingly an effort to prune back and establish a new lower baseline of maintenance commitment.

  • Will they disable the sub-system that corrupts the UEFI bios, if you try and dual boot?
  • I installed WSL2 with Ubuntu Linux on my work Windows 10 laptop. Ended up installing Virtualbox and installing Ubuntu in it. WSL2 SUCKS IMHO! It's Microsoft trying to embrace and extend Linux.All my co-workers did the same thing (except those with MAC's).
    • We use WSL2 on every Windows server we have (which granted are a pretty tiny fraction of our Linux servers).
      It's pretty damn fantastic.

      The form of your comment indicates to me that you and your coworkers don't likely work in a situation where WSL is even useful.
      • Most are heavy developers for AWS. I'm an SRE. The big issue with WSL2 is it doesn't run systemd, so there are many things that don't run in WSL2 or work without systemd running (in Ubuntu). Where a full install of Ubuntu (I use xUbuntu personally as I like a lightweight desktop - same as I run on my home laptop). I did write many of my own bash scripts to automate AWS stuff. I gotta say having worked with both Azure (and all it's services) and AWS, I like AWS better. But I'm more of a Linux guy than Window

        • I would migrate your Windows servers using WSL2 to just plain old Linux - dump windows.

          Good god, not an option, lol.

          As I said, they're a tiny fraction, and they are there because they have to be.
          We have around a dozen Windows servers for specialized applications and licensing purposes, and a couple hundred that run linux.
          We operate 9 datacenters, and a large service provider network.

          In that business, nobody wants to be running Windows, but when you have to, WSL2 is as good as Cygwin used to be for handling management in a sane fashion.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • We promise* not to fuck you over ever!








    *We hold the rights to resend this promise at any time for any reason.

  • "Microsoft Puts the Windows Subsystem for Linux in Its App Store for Faster Updating" They put the subsystem for linux in the windows store because it's most likely not getting enough exposure. The more users they have in the store the more revenue they make with a 30% app tax. I realize they aren't making money on WSL, but they want more users in the store. I've never used it and I never want to have to use it.

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