Install Linux on Windows 10 via WSL

captain-sensible

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When you use Windows a lot goes on behind the scene;for instance when you boot up its all hidden and you work from whats called a graphic login.

Ignorance they say is bliss; certainly having half a clue can be painful.

On some of the posts I read things like "do i have to use the terminal" "i don't really know how to use it".
Linux uses whats know as a "shell" a lot ;its a way of directly communicating with the OS. When you invoke graphic stuff behind the scenes what is happening is that , it just triggered a command for you.

It wouldn't do any harm to get to know or have an introduction to the command line and bash. The most comfortable way to do that would be to leave Windows as it is and just install Linux as a subsystem. You can then play with bash by clicking on a menu icon in your Windows.

[English humor alert:] The way to look at bash and the command line is like a wild horse- great potential if only you can learn to harness it




The Windows Subset For Linux (WSL) is available for Windows 10 if you have a build 16215 or later.

This is how you do it :


Right mouse click on the Windows Power Shell and choose "run as administrator" . If you haven't set up an admin user and their password you need to do that.

In an admin power shell type exactly :

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux


hit return button

next a question will come up , type y (for yes)
you might have to hit return again if you see nothing is happening

Next from the Menu ,click on Microsoft Store entry. Use magnifying glass if you have to but find WSL amonst entries.

You should see choice of ubuntu 18.04 , kali , Debian and a couple of others.

Click on one, and an install button should show up. Click on it. My download showed a progress bar with total to install 221.2 MB

When downloaded you should get a "launch option" click that and then it will say installing.

When finished you get a black Window and it says unix user name:

enter something like your first name.
Then it asks for a password, it asks for you to repeat it. Type it in and don't forget either user nor password.

You are all set to play with bash.

type bash --version
and it should display version.

you can type :
uname -r
uname -m


i tried startx and it said something was missing so i used
apt install <what was missing>

you won't be able to use all commands but you can certainly use a lot. Best of all , all from the secure blanket of Windows.



you can go to: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/user-support?redirectedfrom=MSDN and assocaited pages to read more


its only a small step but maybe a giant leap for a Windows user; certainly a stepping stone to get into Linux
 
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