[..]

(some explicit language is used, it's the name of a software package, not me swearing.)

What is WSL?

The wikipedia entry has some good info:

> Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables (in ELF format) natively on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019. In May 2019, WSL 2 was announced, introducing important changes such as a real Linux kernel, through a subset of Hyper-V features. Since June 2019, WSL 2 is available to Windows 10 customers through the Windows Insider program, including the Home edition.

WSL provides a linux compatible kernel, without any linux kernel code, which runs a GNU user space on top of it. Giving you a bash shell in windows. You can install distros through the microsoft store. WSL 2 has a kernel running in a virtual machine.

How do I go about installing it?

It's crazy simple (you need Windows 10 64bit!):

Go to "turn windows features on or off"

Find Windows Subsystem for Linux

Click it

restart when prompted

go into microsoft store and search for WSL or linux and install a distro! (I used Ubuntu). These are non graphical to start!

(optional) get windows terminal (from github or microsoft store) for a better experience

launch distro or windows terminal

go through setup

run wslfetch!

WSLFetch

What can I do?

Here's a few highlights (imo)

running linux applications in a windows machine

having fun in bash

learning the terminal in a more comfortable environment

It’s lighter than a virtual machine and consumes fewer resources (CPU, memory and storage).

Easy to setup.

Natively integrated with Windows OS and supported by Microsoft.

No third party VM software is required.

Fairly large community and good documentation available from Microsoft, which allows even developers who have never used Linux before to get started easily.

Speeds up the development process in case of cross-platform projects.

You can share Windows apps and Linux tools on the same set of files.

In general, almost near native Linux distro performance.

Very stable.

Cost-efficient (no licence fee).

Users can install the required packages (for example, if you are running the WSL Ubuntu image, you can install packages from the Ubuntu repository).

It offers distribution support. With Ubuntu LTS (long-term support) releases, users will have five years of security patches and updates.

What about GUI stuff?

It's tricky to set up in WSL 1, not ideal. But WSL 2 offers native GUI support, but you need to be an Insider lol

Some cool stuff I got set up

TheFuck - type fuck after a command gets messed up:

Oh-my-bash - makes bash a bit prettier, I'm using the primer theme, I think

git - duh

cowsay - it's a lifesaver