Official name

[edwinksl]

I am confused by the plethora of names this project has acquired:

1. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
2. Bash on Windows
3. Ubuntu on Windows
4. Bash on Ubuntu on Windows

Which of these names is official? Which one should we use when discussing the project? Are there authoritative sources that shed light on this?

[fpqc]

Not sure because I'm not a Microsoft Employee, but I believe that 1 is the name for the pair of pico drivers, lxcore.sys and lxss.sys, the session manager service, and the pico process collection that makes up the "Linux Instances"

The other three are pretty easily mutable, namely, the system allows you to run, say, "zsh on Arch on Windows". Right now, the WSL does not support all of the features used by Arch's package manager, pacman, but there is no code tying you to Ubuntu.

You can for example replace Ubuntu with Debian (since they share a package management system) without much hassle at all, so you could have "FiSH on Debian on Windows". So I would say that descriptions 2-4 are "descriptions of applications of WSL".

[iz0eyj]

WSL, and please (Microsoft) kill the name "Bash on Windows" :)

[iz0eyj]

No, "Linux" cannot be used, simply WSL.
If someone asks... Windows Subsystem for... bah... Liberty? :)

[fpqc]

@SRGOM The rules for the Linux trademark are pretty lax:

https://www.linuxmark.org/programs/legal/trademark/attribution

"At the end of your web page, advertisement, publication or media broadcast, include the following text in a legible font and size: Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries."

Also read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Mark_Institute

Basically, Microsoft would not need to do or pay anything substantial to be in compliance, if it would need to do anything at all.

For example, from Arch Linux's website, right at the very top line of the front page:

"You've reached the website for Arch Linux, a lightweight and flexible Linux® distribution that tries to Keep It Simple."

The bottom of the page says:
"The Arch Linux name and logo are recognized trademarks. Some rights reserved.
The registered trademark Linux® is used pursuant to a sublicense from LMI, the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a world-wide basis."

[mobluse]

#WSL also means World Surf League on Twitter. #BashOnWindows is more unique on Twitter.

[aseering]

I'm a little surprised no one has pointed this out yet -- before "bash" was the name of a shell, it was a regular English word. According to the dictionary definition, to bash on something is to physically or verbally abuse it. For example, "free-software activists love to bash on Windows." (Also, don't look up the word's common slang definition in Urban Dictionary; the phrase gains a whole new meaning...)

Irony can be a wonderful thing. But everyone kind of has to realize that your choice of name is, in fact, ironic for the wonderfulness to work :-)

[Zenexer]

I've been calling it Lxss (or lxss). People seem to recognize that better than WSL, since it shows up all over the place. "_____ on _____ [on _____]" is too cumbersome for casual conversation.

[danielgjackson]

Depending on how you parse the name, you could call it a "Linux Subsystem for Windows" (with "Wine" a "Windows Subsystem for Linux"...)

[aseering]

I've personally seen better recognition for "WSL"; I haven't personally seen "LXSS" used all that often. Too many hard consonants?

"Windows Subsystem" is a technical term in the Windows ecosystem; this thing is "one of those, for Linux".

[danielgjackson]

...yes, but while I might know that:

1. previous Windows subsystems are often known with the environment's name first, like the "POSIX Subsystem" and the "OS/2 Subsystem"
2. "(X) for (OS)" is a common pattern for naming software to run on the specified operating system

...I think it is reasonable that some people could initially be confused by that name!

[mufunyo]

In casual conversation I either call it "Linux for Windows", or "(the) Linux subsystem" if Windows is already the established conversation subject.

[benhillis]

Windows Subsystem for Linux is the preferred nomenclature, dude...