Christine HallNov 25, 2022
I'm still trying to figure out why anyone other than some developers would be interested in this: Windows Subsystem for Linux with GUI apps launches for Windows 10 https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/11/windows-subsystem-for-linux-with-gui-apps-launches-for-windows-10/
Windows Subsystem for Linux with GUI apps launches for Windows 10

Only the Store version of WSL will get new features from now on.

Ars Technica
Show threadjhambyNov 25, 2022

@BrideOfLinux It's typical "embrace, extend" (they're not able to "extinguish" any more). WSLg lets people run X11 and Wayland and PulseAudio apps from existing Linux distros inside Windows transparently without emulation. For people who want to run Windows and Linux, it's the path of least resistance and easier to set up on a PC with Windows preinstalled. It's a great way to accustom Windows users to open source apps.

The news is that they're no longer artificially limiting it to Windows 11.

William (Bill) Kennedy Nov 25, 2022
Show threadjhamby
@BrideOfLinux If you want to look at this from a Linux evangelist POV, there are now a whole lot more laptops and desktops that can't be upgraded to Windows 11 because of the hardware (secure boot / TPM 2.0) requirement, which will now be able to run Linux apps with graphics and sound. This is better news for Linux fans than it might appear on the surface. No need to repartition and reinstall to see what Linux and free software can do for you.
Nov 25, 2022 at 12:57amWeb
Show threadChristine HallNov 25, 2022
@jhamby I should do something simple on this in FOSS Force, shouldn't I. Just enough to explain what you just explained.
Show threadjhambyNov 25, 2022
@BrideOfLinux You should! It's good for people to know what their options are. It's a perfect playground for people who are already using Windows 10 or 11 to try out any or all of the Linux distros in the Microsoft store (simultaneously, if you have the disk space) without risk of bricking your PC or having to know any low-level details. Then you can "apt install gimp" or any other app and try it out. Previously, you needed Windows 11 to run Linux programs that used graphics or audio.
Show threadChristine HallNov 25, 2022
@jhamby I think I'll do about 600 words of news analysis on this in the morning and schedule it to go up on Monday morning when everybody gets back from Thanksgiving. By the way, Gimp runs on Windows natively. Most of the major Linux apps have a Windows port these days.
Show threadmxk⛰️Nov 25, 2022
@BrideOfLinux @jhamby it's interesting that you say "nowadays". The reality, especially for GTK Apps is, that the time where their windows support was best is over.
GTK/Gnome as a whole is lacking manpower, but it shows most for the windows port.
Also, besides the big applications, there are a lot of GUI tools, that either never had a Windows Version, or where the windows version is really outdated.
Show threadgeraldewNov 25, 2022
@mxk @jhamby @BrideOfLinux that seems to beg the question of how Firefox and LibreOffice handle being cross platform. I perhaps used to know the answer to that but I gave up using Windows and so stopped caring about those details.
In my own (small scale) coding I just let Python and Tkinter handle it.
Show threadmxk⛰️Nov 25, 2022
@geraldew @jhamby @BrideOfLinux for Firefox the answer is, that they barely rely on gui-toolkits anymore and simply build their GUI completely on their own.
Libreoffice is developing rather slowly these days and hasn't made the switch to GTK4 even on Linux yet.
Also note that as far as I can tell, the "native" GTK for Windows is dead, and only MSYS2-builds continues to be supported.
Show threadWishartNov 25, 2022
@jhamby @BrideOfLinux Whenever I find out that a friend or neighbour has bought a new laptop and still has the old one, I suggest that they install #linux in the old one, usually #mxlinux just to try it out, or even try a live USB stick. I run MX Linux in my old Lenovo T400, spend most of my time on it, rather than my fancier bloated Windows 11 Acer.
Show threadChristine HallNov 25, 2022
@wishartfrankfield @jhamby Good for you! And if they don't need the laptop they're replacing, they can install a user-friendly distro on it and give it to some school kid whose parents can't afford to buy them a computer without taking food off the table.