
Microsoft is bringing Linux GUI apps to Windows 10 - ArmandGrillet
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21263377/microsoft-windows-10-linux-gui-apps-gpu-acceleration-wsl-features
======
rvz
Fantastic news for WSL2 users who want a consistent way for testing Linux GUI
applications on one platform without installing another distro or dual booting
on their PC. Interesting enough, it includes GPU acceleration as well.

Sounds like I can easily do all the Linux development I need to do on Windows
10 then, even possibly compiling the Linux kernel, knowing that it is well
supported by Microsoft.

~~~
loa_in_
I already use Linux to rescue broken Windows installation (dozens of times),
and Windows to rescue broken Linux installation (once) on the same machine. I
appreciate Microsoft making it easier. Maybe easier is not the correct word,
rather faster.

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avolcano
I'm personally quite excited about this. Been experimenting with WSL2 on my
desktop lately, trying to figure out if I could port over my existing dev
workflow from Mac. One stumbling block I had was that I've been writing
servers in Kotlin lately, using IntellIJ, which is more or less the only game
in town for writing Kotlin.

I wanted to run my app (and tests) in WSL, so I could closer-match my
production Linux environments (and continue using all the bash scripts and ad-
hoc CLI calls I had in my project), but if I wanted to run in IntelliJ on
Windows, this would be tricky: IntelliJ doesn't support the WSL2 virtual file
system, so I couldn't leave my files "in Linux," which means I'd have to run
my server using the mounted C:\ drive in WSL, which is much slower. More
importantly, I'd have to duplicate all my dependencies between Windows and
Linux just to get the IDE working correctly, and couldn't e.g. use the
IntellIJ test runner to run tests under Linux.

So... I just grabbed an X Server[1], installed XFCE in Ubuntu, installed
IntelliJ, and then just started running it through that. And it works
flawlessly as an app! I use the floating window mode in X410 so it just looks
like any other Windows app (I mean, it's already a Java desktop app, so it's
not exactly platform-native to begin with).

The only issues I had were clearly just with the X Server integration:
sometimes, when I had other windows open over IntellIJ, tooltips would still
start showing up in IntelliJ from whatever was underneath my mouse, sometimes
right click menus just mysteriously stopped working until I restarted the
server, etc. The latter was particularly annoying since you can't restart the
server without restarting the app, but was infrequent enough I was okay living
with it.

That said: I am hopeful that this new Windows integration will perform better
and with fewer bugs than the X server implementations out there right now. The
fact that it will support GPU integration makes me think it must be doing more
than just a traditional X server - in fact, doesn't that require Wayland?
Curious how this is implemented under the hood.

[1] I'm using [https://x410.dev/](https://x410.dev/) but there's a decent
amount of options. This one is paid, but at least is on sale right now.

------
genpfault
...somehow. Did I miss an answer to the 'how?' question in the article
somewhere?

EDIT: Ah, El Reg[1] has my back:

> Not in 20H1 but announced at this year's Build is the arrival of GUI support
> for Linux apps running in WSL2 thanks to Wayland and RDP painting the app on
> the Windows desktop

[1]:
[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/19/wsl2_gui/](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/05/19/wsl2_gui/)

------
tracker1
Been on windows desktop again since early march for a couple work projects...
have to admit, WSL2 + Docker experience has been far better than I expected.
Seeing support for GUI apps makes me very happy, though the only app I really
use _IN_ wsl is via the VS Code remote extension.

I know a lot of people using various IDE software will be happy to see this
involvement though... not sure I'd get much use out of the GUI side other than
maybe testing apps.

At this point, very happy with the new terminal with wsl2 as my default
open... I actually feel productive on Windows for a change and get to mostly
ignore all the windows-isms for most projects.

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4gotunameagain
It is great and it will certainly be very useful to a lot of people, but I
cannot help it but to remain sceptical about the whole "reborn Microsoft"
public image.

Microsoft is a monopoly (or very close to one) which has been doing whatever
is needed to thwart competition.

My concern is centered around this slowing down the progress and development
of the desktop linux experience in general

~~~
2OEH8eoCRo0
The desktop linux experience has been piss poor for well over a decade now.
I've been using it off and on since Ubuntu Breezy. It's still so bad that I've
removed it from all of my machines except for my home server. WSL is now the
only way that I actively interact with Linux.

None of this thwarts Linux at all- quite the contrary. This enables more users
and possibly allows more people to develop and improve Linux who do not wish
to dedicate a full machine to the task.

~~~
4gotunameagain
I have been using almost exclusively a linux desktop for almost a decade, so
our opinions vary a lot.

It is probably easier to create a more polished final outcome with billions in
budget and close ties/leverage on hardware manufacturers, but the past few
years the situation in linux is nothing like a decade ago.

The value of the freedom added by Linux in the computing exosystem is
immeasurable imo. Sometimes in windows you cannot even shut your computer down
if you want.

And again, I have no real argument as to why this WSL update could be a bad
thing, but I'm still sceptical

~~~
2OEH8eoCRo0
>The value of the freedom added by Linux in the computing exosystem is
immeasurable imo.

I agree. I still love Linux and use it daily...just in a terminal. My
complaints were toward the desktop experience.

------
merrvk
How long before Microsoft buys Linus?

~~~
desktopninja
Linus has worked for MS many times. This article came to mind when I read your
comment:

    
    
      https://www.wired.com/2005/02/microsoft-5/

