What can you do with WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

If you have been living under a rock, then you don't know that Windows 10 offers you the capability to run Linux under Windows, WSL.

Hearing about that, first thing that comes to mind is to find out the extent of possibilities with this functionality.

Here are few areas where WSL shines:

• Linux tools/utilities
• Software development/deployment. VS Code anyone?
• Different package managers work, so you can install your favorite programs
• No need to install Cygwin tools anymore. Isn't that why you looked here in first place?

Some gotchas would include:

• Linux files are inaccessible through Windows, however, windows files are accessible through Linux.
• There is no real Linux Kernel here, so any sort of programming involving Linux Kernel is a no-go.
• You cannot run GUI apps out of the box. There is a tweak to make them work though. However, performance might be questionable.
• Doesn't support 32-bit programs
• Cannot set up background tasks to run. Although cron jobs are possible, but you have to keep your WSL running and start via
• service cron start