Now that WSL v2 exists why would you still leave Windows for Linux ?

sreyan32 · March 28, 2020, 9:03am

Disclaimer:
I apologize in advance if this question seems a bit "trolly". But I have nowhere else to turn to and no other place to ask this, so I request everyone to keep an open mind and try to view this from the perspective of a Linux noob who is actually struggling with wanting to leave Windows 10 for Linux.

Now that Windows Subsystem for Linux v2 has full system call compatibility with Linux, what are the reasons why you would still use a full Linux system as your "daily-driver". I ask this because, it seems Microsoft has sort of given us the best of both worlds.

I mean we know that the power of Linux is mainly in the command line so we get that with WSL 2, and the power of Windows is in its extremely friendly user-interface, so it makes perfect sense marrying these two concepts. Plus you can also get an Xfce GUI working in WSLv2.

Despite this many will say there are a lot more advantages to have a full Linux system. So my question is what are they ?

jim_mcnamara · March 28, 2020, 10:32am

FWIW - Microsoft originally ran 2 OSes - Xenix and DOS. Xenix was a UNIX clone and DOS later became Windows. It was a business decision to drop Xenix and go all Windows, just like going WSL2 is a business decision now that Microsoft is doing streaming and gets revenue there.

The reason for an all-Linux desktop has to do with being able to use all of the features of Linux internals, the kinds of things you could not do in Windows.
Microsoft resisted anybody even knowing what the base api (the system calls) was until there was a lawsuit they lost. So it meant if something was broken MS had to fix it, you had to sit on your hands waiting. You could not come out with a new meaningful bit of software without using a special expensive development environment - Visual Studio.

This caused MS a problem down the road

Windows lost ground when many of the appliance manufacturers went with Linux - refrigerators, cars, routers, firewalls, disk arrays, Android cell phones.
Windows also took lots of hits because of hacker attacks that only they could "fix". Linux is subject to some attacks

Short answer - if you have lots of money and windows you can learn to program. If you do not have lots of money you can learn with Linux, since most Linux tools are free. If you want to use twitter it does not matter all that much what you use.

sreyan32 · March 28, 2020, 3:10pm

jim mcnamara:

FWIW - Microsoft originally ran 2 OSes - Xenix and DOS. Xenix was a UNIX clone and DOS later became Windows. It was a business decision to drop Xenix and go all Windows, just like going WSL2 is a business decision now that Microsoft is doing streaming and gets revenue there.

The reason for an all-Linux desktop has to do with being able to use all of the features of Linux internals, the kinds of things you could not do in Windows.
Microsoft resisted anybody even knowing what the base api (the system calls) was until there was a lawsuit they lost. So it meant if something was broken MS had to fix it, you had to sit on your hands waiting. You could not come out with a new meaningful bit of software without using a special expensive development environment - Visual Studio.

This caused MS a problem down the road

Windows lost ground when many of the appliance manufacturers went with Linux - refrigerators, cars, routers, firewalls, disk arrays, Android cell phones.
Windows also took lots of hits because of hacker attacks that only they could "fix". Linux is subject to some attacks

Short answer - if you have lots of money and windows you can learn to program. If you do not have lots of money you can learn with Linux, since most Linux tools are free. If you want to use twitter it does not matter all that much what you use.

Thanks so much for replying. I understand that these things might be basic to Linux veterans, hence the patience is really appreciated.

I would just like to add the forced updates and the huge telemetry in Windows 10.

MadeInGermany · March 29, 2020, 4:38pm

I guess the Linux subsystem works with the Windows kernel, and that does not perform like a Linux kernel.

So why not the opposite - Linux and Wine?