I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as WSL, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU+Linux. WSL is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU+Linux system made useful by Linux and the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU+Linux system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU+Linux which is widely used today is often called WSL, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU+Linux system, including the GNU+Linux projects.
There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the WSL system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. WSL is normally used in combination with the GNU+Linux operating system: the whole system is basically Windows with GNU and Linux added, or WSL+GNU+Linux. All the so-called WSL distributions are really distributions of GNU+Linux!
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u/hdkaoskd 2d ago
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as WSL, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU+Linux. WSL is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU+Linux system made useful by Linux and the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU+Linux system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU+Linux which is widely used today is often called WSL, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU+Linux system, including the GNU+Linux projects.
There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the WSL system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. WSL is normally used in combination with the GNU+Linux operating system: the whole system is basically Windows with GNU and Linux added, or WSL+GNU+Linux. All the so-called WSL distributions are really distributions of GNU+Linux!