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Topic: Anyone else using this thing for WSL? (Read 1281 times) previous topic - next topic
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Anyone else using this thing for WSL?

Hey,

I just got Artix set up for WSL2 on 21h1, seems pretty alright.  I thought it'd be a good distro to run as a linux container because of the init systems - Windows Task scheduler is what you use for WSL (no, seriously), which lends itself much more naturally to your basic rc.d-style scripts as opposed to a big, monolithic honker like systemd. 

I went with s66, not because I thought it'd be the best fit (runit or openrc probably would have been more appropriate), but because I found it really interesting-sounding and wanted to check it out.

Now that I have it all set up, I'm a little confused as to what to do to get at its init system.  s66 seems like a pretty new paradigm. 

Does anyone else use Artix for WSL, and if so, how are you using your init system in Windows?

Thanks

Re: Anyone else using this thing for WSL?

Reply #1 –
Why on Earth would anyone want to use proprietary software, especially Microsoft's, instead of a Free/Libre operating system like GNU/Linux is beyond me.

Some reading material for you:

Microsoft's Software is Malware
https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-microsoft.en.html

There is no "s66". There are s6 and 66:

http://skarnet.org/software/s6/
Quote
s6 is a small suite of programs for UNIX, designed to allow process supervision (a.k.a service supervision), in the line of daemontools and runit, as well as various operations on processes and daemons.

https://web.obarun.org/software/66/latest/
Quote
Sixty-six is a collection of system tools built around s6 and s6-rc created to make the implementation and manipulation of service files on your machine easier.

Finally, "this thing" has a name, it is Artix - a distribution of a Free operating system GNU/Linux.
 

Re: Anyone else using this thing for WSL?

Reply #2 –
WSL does not use the init of the distro installed... so it doesn't use systemd, s6, runit, nor openrc... you can actually uninstall init completely in a WSL and it still works.

WSL handles init, so it doesn't need any other init.

strajder, not everyone has a choice. For example on a work machine they might not allow you to install linux since it isn't your computer, but installing WSL would be a good alternative to have access to linux while using it.

In a perfect world we would all use GNU/Linux and be happy. But it isn't a perfect world.
Chris Cromer

Re: Anyone else using this thing for WSL?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Chris Cromer – on
strajder, not everyone has a choice. For example on a work machine they might not allow you to install linux since it isn't your computer, but installing WSL would be a good alternative to have access to linux while using it.
I am aware of this. However, it doesn't sound like the case described by the OP. Instead, it looks like he is setting up his home computer. In any case, even in the workplace, it is at least worth suggesting a switch to free software to the employer whenever possible.

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/saying-no-even-once.html
https://www.fsf.org/windows

Re: Anyone else using this thing for WSL?

Reply #4 –
The big issue for not being able to change isn't Microsoft itself. It's 3rd party software companies that only develop for Windows. For example AutoCAD. It has been around since 1977, it only supports Windows, it is the industry standard in CAD software. Yes there are free alternatives, but not 1 of them is 100% compatible, there is always some feature or something that is missing in all the alternatives. That is what forces Windows to be used in my wife's company, the features they use and need are not in the free alternatives.

The only way to actually move away from Windows is if 3rd party developers support GNU/Linux as well. However for most companies it isn't worth the time or investment to do so because so few people use GNU/Linux compared to windows.

Even I am forced to use Windows for university, 1 of my courses this semester uses software stacks that only run on Windows. The software in question is industry standard in various many companies, so again using alternatives is not a choice. But I do at least have access to my Artix WSL while I am doing this course. And when not in the course, I go back to real Artix Linux.
Chris Cromer