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    Ubuntu on Windows

    (blog.dustinkirkland.com)
    2049 points bpierre | 13 comments | 30 Mar 16 16:35 UTC | HN request time: 1.91s | source | bottom
    1. frozenport ◴[30 Mar 16 17:40 UTC] No.11391280[source]▶
    I don't get it. What's the use case for a few core utilities running natively?
    replies(4): >>11391338 #>>11391343 #>>11391653 #>>11391986 #
    2. typon ◴[30 Mar 16 17:45 UTC] No.11391338[source]▶
    It's not a 'few' core utilities. It's any packages available on Ubuntu.
    replies(1): >>11394914 #
    3. jdub ◴[30 Mar 16 17:46 UTC] No.11391343[source]▶
    You can run any* Linux binary on WinLS, including apt-get in the Ubuntu rootfs.

    * within the probably surprisingly broad limits of the WinLS syscall emulation, though it wouldn't support niche OS config stuff, SELinux calls, etc.

    replies(1): >>11391830 #
    4. tdicola ◴[30 Mar 16 18:19 UTC] No.11391653[source]▶
    I'm with you. Interesting novelty, but I would absolutely not bank on doing anything missions critical with this. Wait 5 years for the excitement to die down and lets see if the team stuck maintaining this is even going to be around anymore. Are they committing to keeping the syscall translation layer up to date with changes in later kernels, etc? Or is this going to turn into another 'You can run Android apps on Windows!' announcement that fizzles out after they realize how much work they've gotten into...
    replies(1): >>11392076 #
    5. pbhjpbhj ◴[30 Mar 16 18:43 UTC] No.11391830[source]▶
    So I can install apt then install apps like Firefox, Thunderbird and run them that way instead of using Windows binaries? Interesting ...
    replies(1): >>11392010 #
    6. dagw ◴[30 Mar 16 19:01 UTC] No.11391986[source]▶
    I can use those few core utilities to build and run other more useful utilities.
    7. dagw ◴[30 Mar 16 19:04 UTC] No.11392010{3}[source]▶
    I haven't read anything that indicates that it will support GUI apps, but anything purely CLI based should work.
    replies(1): >>11392454 #
    8. revelation ◴[30 Mar 16 19:12 UTC] No.11392076[source]▶
    ... what changes in later kernels?

    Remember the holy edict of Linux kernel development: you don't break userspace.

    replies(1): >>11394909 #
    9. JorgeGT ◴[30 Mar 16 19:59 UTC] No.11392454{4}[source]▶
    I wonder if these utilities can reach a locally-running X server?
    replies(1): >>11394650 #
    10. jdub ◴[31 Mar 16 02:44 UTC] No.11394650{5}[source]▶
    If nothing else, based on the capabilities demonstrated so far, you should (theoretically) be able to run local Linux X client apps to a Windows X server over localhost TCP. You'll miss out on a few optimisations available when using shared memory, but not much.
    replies(1): >>11396154 #
    11. ◴[31 Mar 16 04:03 UTC] No.11394909{3}[source]▶
    12. frozenport ◴[31 Mar 16 04:05 UTC] No.11394914[source]▶
    All the CLI packages I want that are on Ubuntu are also on Windows. I don't see Windows users dying for lack of applications...
    13. JorgeGT ◴[31 Mar 16 10:41 UTC] No.11396154{6}[source]▶
    I just saw this demo video https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2016/P488?ocid=player where they demonstrate how the Ruby rack webserver runs flawlessly through the localhost address so it looks like you are totally correct. Awesome!