Brief: openSUSE joins Ubuntu to provide Bash shell on Windows 10. In short, Bash on Windows is now available via openSUSE.
openSUSE recently revealed that it is now possible to run openSUSE within Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). This Windows Subsystem for Linux is also known as Bash for Windows.
This means that now when you are using Bash on Windows, you can use it via openSUSE. So your favorite Zypper and other openSUSE specific commands will work natively on Windows 10 along with other Bash commands.
What is Bash on Windows again?
If you are not aware of it, last year, Microsoft dropped the bomb by announcing Bash on Windows.
Bash on Windows is basically Microsoft creating a Windows Subsystem for Linux so that you can use REAL Linux commands in Windows. And this is not like using a virtual machine or an emulator of Cygwin sort. It actually enables you to use native Bash commands on Windows.
This way, you get a terminal like interface in which you can run your favorite Linux commands.
If you install Bash on Windows, you get Ubuntu by default. But Microsoft doesn’t want to limit it to Ubuntu. Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, Rich Turner has indicated that support for more distribution is in pipeline:
@infoworld @syegulalp Heading this one off early: Bash/WSL is NOT a Microsoft Linux distro: In fact, WSL is designed to be distro-agnostic
— Rich Turner (@richturn_ms) January 10, 2017
openSUSE on Windows Subsystem for Linux
In a detailed blog post, Hannes Kühnemund demonstrated how openSUSE can be installed in Windows 10. I do not want to repeat the process here as the original blog post is already very good and easy to follow.
I suggested heading over to openSUSE blog to know the procedure of installing openSUSE for Bash on Windows.
More unofficial support for other Linux distributions for Bash on Windows
openSUSE is the second Linux distribution to support Bash on Windows officially. Does it mean more Linux distros support will be coming for Bash on Windows? Perhaps.
But in the meantime, there are projects that are already working in this regard. These are not official projects but created by enthusiasts, thanks to the beauty of open source.
One such open source project brings Arch Linux support for Bash on Windows. Not only this, there is another project that lets you switch between Fedora, Debian, CentOS etc.
What’s your opinion?
What do you think of openSUSE coming to Windows Subsystem for Linux? Do you think more Linux distributions should follow the suit?
Oh! by the way, if you are not using openSUSE, you should read this article about why should you use openSUSE. I look forward to reading your comments.