Re: Microsoft admits that Windows is short-term support in realistic terms

On Thu, 2/20/2025 9:29 AM, Anton Shepelev wrote:

Paul to Anton Shepelev:
 

Paul:
>

I run Okular in both Windows and bash shell

>
Impossible: Okural is a GUI program, not a terminal one.

>
Possible.
>
The "bash shell", so called, has a graphics stack called
WSLg.

 
I fear you misunderstand the terminology.  In Microsoft's
"bash shell" is just a text shell, not an environment for
GUI programs.  WSLg is not part of the shell.

I fear you misunderstand the terminology.

As a rolling release, the product has evolved over time.

The original offering was "bash shell". It had no graphics.
Yet, within about three days of initial delivery, some people
on The Internet, had used XMing as a separate X11 server, and then ran Firefox
from the loaded distro in the Bash Shell product, using XMing for graphics.

I did not reproduce that effort immediately. I waited a bit
before I set up mine. The initial offering was on the Insider,
which is why this material is still sitting on the Insider drive
today. I have newer versions of the setup in other places.
But this was the first setup for me. I never upgraded or updated
this initial effort. It was left for the purpose we see today,
namely, taking a picture. That's why it is still there.

   [Picture]

    https://i.postimg.cc/8cDBDsVV/WSL1-Insider.gif

The progression goes like this.

   WSL1           - Just Bash

   WSL1 + XMing   - Now, you can run graphical packages from the installed distro

   WSL2           - Containerized version (.vhd), resident Linux kernel

   WSL2 + WSLg    - Now, you no longer need XMing.

This is what you see in Bash today. A DISPLAY variable is already set today.

bash

$ echo $DISPLAY
:0
$ firefox &        <=== Firefox immediately appears, rootless, on the Windows Desktop
                        Graphics are rendered by the WSLg stack (Terminal Services at
                        the top of the stack, as glue to the Windows desktop).

I can run Synaptic Package Manager, install additional packages in Bash Shell
without using Apt if I want. I can run Nautilus. And, I can run XEyes (just
because it bothers someone here...) .

   Paul