Microsoft <3 Linux

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. © Microsoft.

After starting with Ubuntu, Microsoft has added other Linux distributions that can be used with WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux): SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, openSUSE, Debian, Kali Linux. That’s great and all, but if Microsoft didn’t support your favourite distribution, you were out of luck…until today. Microsoft has released a MIT licence C++ utility that allows you to build your own Linux distribution installation package for WSL. The tool has two target audiences: distribution owners (so that they can create a package ready for the Microsoft Store), and developers (so they can create custom distributions and load them onto their development systems). Microsoft will continue to add new features to WSL. The next major Windows update, version 1803, will include limited support for background tasks and better filesystem interoperability between the Windows sides and Linux sides.

⇨ Ars Technica, “Bring your own Linux to Windows with new open source tool.”