SUSE announced this week that it now supports the Windows Subsystem for Linux in Windows 10. So you can now use SUSE Bash instead of Ubuntu if you’d like.
When Microsoft first announced the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) as a new feature of Windows 10 last year, Ubuntu Bash was the only supported Linux shell. But since this system is open, it’s possible to install other shells. Which is what SUSE has done.
I’ve not really covered this functionality too much for a variety of reasons. It’s aimed at developers and system administrators who work in heterogeneous environments and prefer or expect the familiarity of Bash, a command line shell that features prominently in UNIX and Linux. (It’s included in macOS as well.) Microsoft, for its part, makes a more modern and powerful command line and scripting environment called PowerShell, but its new openness to the real world needs of its biggest customers—businesses—has triggered the creation of the Frankenstein-like monstrosity of running Bash on top of Linux on top of Windows.
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Anyway, you can tell that WSL isn’t aimed at normal users by the way you install it. You can use the hidden and hard-to-find Windows Features interface or prove your mettle by using the command line instead. Either way, what you’re doing is installing the WSL, an optional Windows 10 subsystem, and then running a user-mode Ubuntu Linux on top of Windows 10. That Linux version comes with the Bash shell.
But now those who need to bridge the Windows and Linux worlds have a second option. You will still install WSL, as before. But instead of using Ubuntu Linux, you can use SUSE instead.
“Running Linux binaries natively on Windows … that sounds awesome indeed,” SUSE’s Hannes Kühnemund explains. “However, it’s quite unfortunate that Microsoft enabled the wrong Linux (that’s my personal opinion) by default within the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and it is time to change it to the real stuff.”
SUSE provides a step-by-step guide for getting this stuff installed., and you can choose between openSUSE Leap 42.2 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2. As with using Ubuntu, however, what you’re basically doing is getting access to the Bash shell, which can run alongside the Command.com command line environment, Windows PowerShell, and the Windows GUI.
As for why you might choose this integration, as SUSE explains, this combination of Windows 10 and Linux is more efficient than other ways of running both OSes.
“It’s hard to have both Windows and Linux truly accessible at the same time,” Kühnemund explains. “You’d either have to go with a dual boot setup, or you may leverage virtualization and run a Linux VM on Windows (or vice versa), or you might be familiar with Cygwin allowing you to run recompiled Linux binaries on Windows. All of those options have their advantages and disadvantages.”
God help us all.
8578
<p>This reminds me of Sun’s dubious assumption that developers would write Windows applications in Java because they wanted them to be able to run on Unix. Let Linux be Linux and Windows Windows.</p>
8578
<blockquote><em><a href="#37076">In reply to </a><a href="../../../users/hrlngrv">hrlngrv</a><a href="#37076">:</a></em></blockquote>
<p>You mean the same MS managers who thought a Windows tablet that didn’t run Windows applications was a good idea? The same managers who thought developers would flock to Windows 8 if they enabled development via HTML and Javascript? </p>
<p>Most web developers who are targeting Linux will simply use Linux boxes. They don’t need Windows. Is there any evidence that MS has sold any additional Windows licenses solely because of Linux support?</p>
8578
<blockquote><em><a href="#37280">In reply to </a><a href="../../../users/hrlngrv">hrlngrv</a><a href="#37280">:</a></em></blockquote>
<p>I agree that there’s not much added value in Windows 10 in general, but even UWP is probably orders of magnitude more used than Linux features. I think what has really been going on at MS in the last few years is that a new generation of developers what to do what the "cool kids" are doing. That means mobile, web development tools and open source even when there’s no clear path to improve the bottom line.</p>
8578
<blockquote><em><a href="#37300">In reply to </a><a href="../../../users/hrlngrv">hrlngrv</a><a href="#37300">:</a></em></blockquote>
<p>We aren’t talking about tools on servers, but tools on the client. There’s no such thing as Windows 10 Server. It seems obvious to me that if one is developing for Windows Server, the most efficient tools to use are those that were designed specifically to support it. Likewise for Linux. Again, where’s the evidence that WSL will prevent the bottom line from deteriorating? </p>
<p>A business has limited resources, so even a "can’t hurt" effort can sometimes be harmful because a better option was denied an opportunity to go forward. Not saying that MS had better things to do, but it’s possible.</p>
8578
<blockquote><em><a href="#37549">In reply to </a><a href="../../../users/hrlngrv">hrlngrv</a><a href="#37549">:</a></em></blockquote>
<p>You said: "Servers matter, and they’re going to matter more and more going forward, and development for servers means using tools which will be found on most servers"</p>
<p>You didn’t mention a Windows 10 server and I didn’t claim you did. WSL is a Windows 10 feature, so if it were found a MS server, it would have to be a "Windows 10" server. </p>
<p>Not sure what "substantial group of developers" you are referring to. Did MS conduct a poll I didn’t hear about?</p>
<p>As far as MS knowing what’s best, I’ve already enumerated two major blunders MS has made in recent years.</p>