Today we’re very excited to announce the open-source release of the Windows Subsystem for Linux. This is the result of a multiyear effort to prepare for this, and a great closure to the first ever issue raised on the Microsoft/WSL repo:
Microsoft really has a knack for that. I also like WoW64, which contains the binaries for running 32 bit applications on Windows 64 bit. For historical reasons, the 64 bit binaries live in system32, obviously.
It’s a subsystem of Windows. Therefore, a Windows Subsystem. I don’t know what else would make sense. A “subsystem of Linux for Windows” wouldn’t make sense. They don’t call their other features “Notepad for Windows” or “Defender for Windows.”
This depends entirely of what you mean by “of Windows” and what you mean by “for Linux”. This terminology is ambiguous.
Are you a Lemmy user for lemmy.world, or are you a lemmy.world user for Lemmy?
It’s also inconsistent because when they say, for example, “Microsoft Azure Linux Container Host for AKS”, they are talking about running a Microsoft Azure Linux Container inside of AKS, not a container that is meant to be used for running AKS within it…
If I say “the life support system for the USS Enterprise”, nobody thinks that that’s a system running on the life support that gives you the USS Enterprise. It’s a system running on the USS Enterprise that gives you life support. Windows Subsystem for Linux sounds like it’s a system running on Linux that gives you access to Windows.
If I say “the life support system for the USS Enterprise”,
Unfortunately contact mean that example dose work both ways.
If we say enterprise system for life support. People will also understand.
But voyager system for enterprise could apply either way. To be fitted to enterprise or allow enterprise activity on voyager. Or voyager activity on enterprise. For is just bad language in this context.
Here Microsoft should’ve used a possessive. Voyagers enterprise support system would be more normal.
Or Windows Linux support system.
But marketing and a history of no other OS matters means Mickey$oft insists on it’s own layout. Over language clarity.
@randomcruft@fakeplastic I’m not real comfortable with my data on someone else’s computer, but triply so if that somebody is Microsoft, Gargoyle, or Amazon.
I wish they’d open source the name.
It should be called the “Linux Subsystem for Windows”.
It’s so annoying, because both are technically grammatically correct, but the current one just sounds the opposite
Microsoft really has a knack for that. I also like
WoW64, which contains the binaries for running 32 bit applications on Windows 64 bit. For historical reasons, the 64 bit binaries live insystem32, obviously.There you can see that only drunks work at Microaoft.
It’s a subsystem of Windows. Therefore, a Windows Subsystem. I don’t know what else would make sense. A “subsystem of Linux for Windows” wouldn’t make sense. They don’t call their other features “Notepad for Windows” or “Defender for Windows.”
This depends entirely of what you mean by “of Windows” and what you mean by “for Linux”. This terminology is ambiguous.
Are you a Lemmy user for lemmy.world, or are you a lemmy.world user for Lemmy?
It’s also inconsistent because when they say, for example, “Microsoft Azure Linux Container Host for AKS”, they are talking about running a Microsoft Azure Linux Container inside of AKS, not a container that is meant to be used for running AKS within it…
You say “The Windows Memory Subsystem” not “The Windows Subsystem for Memory”.
Windows Linux Subsystem would likely be most clear.
If I say “the life support system for the USS Enterprise”, nobody thinks that that’s a system running on the life support that gives you the USS Enterprise. It’s a system running on the USS Enterprise that gives you life support. Windows Subsystem for Linux sounds like it’s a system running on Linux that gives you access to Windows.
Unfortunately contact mean that example dose work both ways.
If we say enterprise system for life support. People will also understand.
But voyager system for enterprise could apply either way. To be fitted to enterprise or allow enterprise activity on voyager. Or voyager activity on enterprise. For is just bad language in this context.
Here Microsoft should’ve used a possessive. Voyagers enterprise support system would be more normal.
Or Windows Linux support system.
But marketing and a history of no other OS matters means Mickey$oft insists on it’s own layout. Over language clarity.
Does ‘Notepad subsystem for Linux’ sound to you like a Windows or Linux subsystem?
It sounds like a subsystem of notepad because that’s the word used as the modifier.
On Windows MS may not call it Defender for Windows… but for Azure, it’s Defender for Cloud, Defender for Containers, Defender for SQL Databases, etc.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud overview
So really it’s just more of Microsoft’s generally crappy naming conventions… I’m looking at you Entra ID!!
edit: added link
🙂
@randomcruft @fakeplastic I’m not real comfortable with my data on someone else’s computer, but triply so if that somebody is Microsoft, Gargoyle, or Amazon.