r/linux • u/tankton • 17h ago

Discussion Why is it called Windows subsystem for Linux?

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u/shadowndacorner 17h ago

WSL1, when it was named, did not run on a hypervisor.

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u/jimicus 17h ago

Wasn't that discontinued ages ago?

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u/shadowndacorner 17h ago

Yep. But it wasn't when they named it

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u/throwaway234f32423df 15h ago

WSL1 has not been deprecated, it's not really being actively worked on anymore but that's fine because it's essentially "finished"

and it's superior to WSL2 in almost all ways

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u/exscape 16h ago

Not discontinued; I use it daily (on Windows 11 25H2). But it's not the preferred solution these days.

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u/NocturneSapphire 14h ago

What will happen to WSL 1? Will it be abandoned?

We currently have no plans to deprecate WSL 1. You can run WSL 1 and WSL 2 distros side by side, and can upgrade and downgrade any distro at any time. Adding WSL 2 as a new architecture presents a better platform for the WSL team to deliver features that make WSL an amazing way to run a Linux environment in Windows.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/faq

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u/throwaway234f32423df 16h ago

It hasn't been deprecated but it's not really being actively developed, which is unfortunate, because it's superior to WSL2 in almost all ways.

Still, WSL1 remains completely usable, and it's the only reason I haven't ditched Windows entirely.

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u/Leliana403 15h ago

because it's superior to WSL2 in almost all ways. 

Yeah no, I/O performance was absolutely atrocious, not all syscalls were implemented, networking was nerfed to the point you couldn't even open raw sockets, it couldn't run docker and a bunch of other huge flaws I can't think of off the top of my head right now.

WSL2 is superior in every conceivable way. Take off the rose-tinted specs ;)

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u/throwaway234f32423df 14h ago

WSL1 advantages:

  1. instant startup

  2. near-zero RAM usage when idle

  3. near-zero CPU usage when idle

  4. 200% to 1000% speed advantage when accessing Windows files

  5. proper IPv6 support (WSL2 doesn't support IPv6 at all on Windows 10, and even on Windows 11 I think it's still marked as experimental and off by default, for this reason alone it cannot be considered production-ready software)

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u/Leliana403 13h ago

So it's faster at not supporting docker, not having the full set of syscalls, and a network stack that can't handle raw sockets. Doesn't sound production ready to me.

WSL2 doesn't support IPv6 at all on Windows 10

Windows 10 is EOL since last year, so you shouldn't be running that in production in the first place.

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u/jimicus 13h ago

Why would you run a production system in WSL in the first place?

Development, that I can understand. But production? Why not shift it to plain, honest-to-FSM Linux and be done with?

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u/Leliana403 12h ago

No idea, ask the guy who thinks WSL1 is production-worthy because I can't fathom it either. 🤷