
Run Bash on Ubuntu on Windows - jessaustin
https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2016/03/30/run-bash-on-ubuntu-on-windows/
======
dang
[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=bash%20windows&sort=byDate&dat...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=bash%20windows&sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=story&storyText=false&prefix&page=0)

------
platz
"while you’ll be able to run native Bash and many Linux command-line tools on
Windows, it’s important to note that this is a developer toolset to help you
write and build all your code for all your scenarios and platforms.

This is not a server platform upon which you will host websites, run server
infrastructure, etc"

~~~
valarauca1
>This is not a server platform upon which you will host websites, run server
infrastructure, etc

Yet they demo'd a website being hosted via the Linux sub-system -_- thanks
microsoft!

~~~
jongalloway2
No, they demonstrated developing and testing a Ruby application on Windows via
the Linux sub-system, then deploying it to Azure (using ssh, mina and git).

Important distinction - they're building support for developing Linux-based
web applications into Windows, not hosting websites.

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msellout
I wonder if PG will update his "Microsoft is dead" prediction. Nadella seems
to have resurrected Microsoft. I can't imagine them doing this under Ballmer
or Gates.

~~~
shimon
This is a nice move, but if you think this changes the "Microsoft is dead"
statement (not prediction) then you don't appreciate what Microsoft was as
compared to what Microsoft is today.

In the 1990s, Microsoft was in many tech markets the default winner, with such
powerful monopoly influence that large classes of startup idea would not even
make sense to consider because Microsoft was just so well set up to kill any
threats to their dominance. And quite willing to do so.

This is a level of dominance and ferocity that has not been attained by other
tech companies since. Companies like Apple, Google, and Facebook have pretty
strong dominance powered by their lead in product quality, engineering talent,
and brand/network effects, but it doesn't strike fear into people the way
Microsoft once did. Plus, there is some balance of power among them.

Microsoft now is a participant in this power dynamic. They play in the normal
way, by trying to make good products and attract developers and users to their
platform. In the 1990s, this would have seemed a pathetic weakness. That
Microsoft is still dead.

~~~
msellout
I remember. So, M$FT is dead, long live MSFT?

~~~
shimon
Past the headline, PG never claimed MSFT would actually die (or even cease to
make lots of money).
[http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/microsoft.html)

------
awalGarg
"Third, note that Bash and Linux tools cannot interact with Windows
applications and tools, and vice-versa. So you won’t be able to run Notepad
from Bash, or run Ruby in Bash from PowerShell."

~~~
ktRolster
To me, that means that it's less useful than Cygwin currently.

~~~
JdeBP
In that vein, see
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11416392](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11416392)
.

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MountainJack
Posix on Windows! Yay! Together with the open sourcing of DotNet (that now
enjoys an MIT license), this new Microsoft stance is looking more and more
compelling. Comparing MS policies that to the rather hostile
licensing/litigation policies of Java/Oracle makes me reevaluate.

~~~
jewel
For those that haven't seen it, this isn't the first time (or even the second
time) that Microsoft has released a POSIX layer for Windows:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_POSIX_subsystem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_POSIX_subsystem)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Services_for_UNIX](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Services_for_UNIX)

~~~
ktRolster
And they all suck (but are better than nothing). I really wish I could get the
windows socket() function to return an integer.

------
kevinSuttle
Sure wish they'd discuss a release date...

~~~
voltagex_
My theory is that it got announced / leaked way too early. Although, the
driver files have been in the Preview builds for a while now.

------
Touche
It seems weird to me that conhost.exe handles how console commands are
displayed. I've read where some 3rd party attempts to improve the terminal
experience on Windows have done so by essentially scraping what conhost
outputs and then using the data to display output themselves.

Am I wrong about this? I have never worked on terminals so I very well could
be, but my expectation would be that terminals call into shell APIs which
return a result that the terminal can then display however it wishes. If so,
then I think the next natural step would be for Windows to decouple conhost's
responsibilities.

~~~
Analemma_
This isn't as necessary as it used to be: conhost.exe got a major overhaul in
Windows 10 and it sucks a lot less now. There's wrapped selection, copy/paste,
and transparency (if you're into that). There's plenty more to go but overall
the experience is no longer pull-your-hair-out agony, and Microsoft did say
(without providing any specifics) that more improvements were on the way and
that they are still soliciting feedback and feature suggestions. You could
propose changing the way commands are displayed if you wanted.

~~~
Touche
Those improvements are nice, but ultimately 3rd party terminals should be able
to handle display completely by themselves. Is this now possible?

------
drdaeman
I wonder if this means that Windows will be finally able to use ext3/4
filesystems out-of-box, read and write.

Or Microsoft won't dare to hurt their FAT-LFN & exFAT cash cows and make that
"uh-oh developers only" feature? ;)

~~~
JdeBP
It's a subsystem for running Linux binaries, unaltered, on top of the Windows
NT kernel. There has been no mention of additional Windows NT filesystem
drivers, anywhere.

------
rb808
After 30 years using windows this is very good news.

Right now on Windows I use Git Shell which works great but is based on mintty.
Will be nice to be something close to native.

------
ultramancool
Is this in Insider Preview Build 14295 or is there an estimate on when the
next preview will be out?

~~~
Analemma_
It is not in the current Preview Build; they have said it's coming soon but
did not give specifics. Preview builds are pretty fast-paced now (about once a
week) so I suspect it won't be long.

~~~
zzzcpan
No, they said very specifically - in the next preview build, which is in two
weeks.

~~~
Analemma_
I must've missed that bit. Thanks!

------
samfisher83
Anyone have the download link? I can't seem to find it.

------
manojlds
Does this make msys(git) defunct?

~~~
jandrese
Hasn't msys been half dead for years now? I still use it, but it has felt like
it is on its last legs for a long time now.

~~~
kryptiskt
MSYS2 is very up-to-date. [https://msys2.github.io](https://msys2.github.io)

It uses pacman from Arch Linux as its package manager and it contains many
libs in addition to just the compilers (and the unixy tools)

