- #1
onoturtle
- 46
- 13
I'm curious what others experience have been with using WSL on Windows 10, otherwise known as Ubuntu on Windows or Bash on Windows. The recent Microsoft Build event reminded me that this was an option.
I have a workstation coming in for work in a week or so with Win10. The original plan was to install Ubuntu and use the Win10 key for a VM for the various Windows only stuff used in the office. I'm curious about simplifying this and just using Win10, see how it goes and turn to Ubuntu if it sucks.
Some weaknesses I'm aware of:
- I understand that WSL is more efficient than running Ubuntu on VM, but not as efficient as running Ubuntu directly. So there will be some performance impact. Not a big deal for me, I think, since I'll still be using remote Linux servers to run bigger tasks.
- No Linux GUI. I think there are some X server or some other workarounds. I don't know. Probably not a blocker for me since I'll be doing mostly command line tools. My field has some visual stuff but all the examples I can think of are Java or R that I can run directly in Windows.
- Not a full implementation of the Linux kernel. This worries me. I think some network using tools may not work. Not sure how this will affect my work yet. Could be the deal breaker.
- "screen" seems broken. I need to run an initial screen with sudo to have the permissions to initialize directories. I think I can add something to my bash profile to run some clean-up to fix this up.
I only tested WSL on a Win10 VM on my personal MacOS laptop, as the work computer isn't here yet. I'll have deeper impressions once the workstation comes in. Unless others impressions here deter me and I go straight into Ubuntu!
I'm interested in experiences from both the for work and for personal use perspectives. While my primary thoughts at the moment are aimed at the work situation and even if WSL may end up not being very good there, I still may consider WSL for a next personal computer where I'm not interested in using Linux. I currently use a Mac but being limited to Apple hardware is not ideal and I don't care for going through all the hoops for a Hackintosh.
I have a workstation coming in for work in a week or so with Win10. The original plan was to install Ubuntu and use the Win10 key for a VM for the various Windows only stuff used in the office. I'm curious about simplifying this and just using Win10, see how it goes and turn to Ubuntu if it sucks.
Some weaknesses I'm aware of:
- I understand that WSL is more efficient than running Ubuntu on VM, but not as efficient as running Ubuntu directly. So there will be some performance impact. Not a big deal for me, I think, since I'll still be using remote Linux servers to run bigger tasks.
- No Linux GUI. I think there are some X server or some other workarounds. I don't know. Probably not a blocker for me since I'll be doing mostly command line tools. My field has some visual stuff but all the examples I can think of are Java or R that I can run directly in Windows.
- Not a full implementation of the Linux kernel. This worries me. I think some network using tools may not work. Not sure how this will affect my work yet. Could be the deal breaker.
- "screen" seems broken. I need to run an initial screen with sudo to have the permissions to initialize directories. I think I can add something to my bash profile to run some clean-up to fix this up.
I only tested WSL on a Win10 VM on my personal MacOS laptop, as the work computer isn't here yet. I'll have deeper impressions once the workstation comes in. Unless others impressions here deter me and I go straight into Ubuntu!
I'm interested in experiences from both the for work and for personal use perspectives. While my primary thoughts at the moment are aimed at the work situation and even if WSL may end up not being very good there, I still may consider WSL for a next personal computer where I'm not interested in using Linux. I currently use a Mac but being limited to Apple hardware is not ideal and I don't care for going through all the hoops for a Hackintosh.
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