On 1/29/25 10:15 PM, Robin Candau wrote:
On 1/28/25 12:59 AM, Robin Candau wrote:
Hi everyone,
I'm writing this mail to collect thoughts and interests about providing an official Arch Linux image for WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) [1]. [...]
Hey,
After only a few days, this proposal has generated quite some attractions with a majority of positive feedback, both from users and staff! [...]
Hi everyone, Microsoft confirmed me their interest in including an official Arch Linux WSL image in their distribution manifest and also agreed on a frequency of one pull request per month to keep it updated [1] (which matches the release frequency of our ISO). With the above and the overall positive feedback I got so far, I think we are *technically* ready to proceed. For good measure, I'd still like give a bit more time for one more round of thoughts / validations on the current specifications for distributing an official Arch Linux WSL image: - A dedicated repository in our GitLab instance, allowing to manage the project independently from others and contain WSL specific issues in a single separate location (the current "PoC" / repo proposal is currently available under my personal namespace [2]). - A dedicated image automatically built from scratch and published / released once a month via a scheduled GitLab CI [3]. The image provides the simplest but complete system (including systemd support out of the box). The build workflow is inspired by the one from our Docker images, minus the stuff we don't want for a WSL image (e.g. documentation file stripping) and provide an easy way to build your own image [4]. - Installation & setup as easy and straightforward as possible: * From a Windows system with WSL 2.4.4 or greater: The WSL Arch system can be installed & setup via a single PowerShell command [5] (or a double click on the downloaded image [6]). * From a Windows system with WSL prior to 2.4.4: The WSL Arch system can be installed by importing the downloaded image via a single PowerShell command and can then be setup via a single shell command from the started system [7]. * Providing an image via the Windows store in out of the scope (due to the required policy / TOS agreements). - Technical support is provided at a best effort level with low priority & only for WSL2 (WSL1 is _not_ supported). We don't expect Arch staff to provide support if they can't and / or don't want to. Some community involvement regarding support in the dedicated WSL repo is however expected. Don't hesitate to share your thoughts! If needed, the full thread is readable at [8]. Given that there is no strong objection expressed in the next few days / weeks about the above specifications, I'll start proceeding to the last required steps with the help of our DevOps (thanks wCPO / Kristian & artafinde / Leonidas for great tips and help). Those include: merging the GitLab repo [2] under the "archlinux" namespace, switching to secure runners for the "build" and "release" CI stages, moving the built images from the GitLab package registry to our geo mirrors and setting up automatic monthly PR to update the Microsoft WSL distribution manifest [1]. Until then, I remain available to answer any questions :) [1] https://github.com/microsoft/WSL/issues/12551 [2] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/antiz/archlinux-wsl [3] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/antiz/archlinux-wsl/-/pipeline_schedules [4] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/antiz/archlinux-wsl#building-your-own-image [5] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/antiz/archlinux-wsl#automated-install [6] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/antiz/archlinux-wsl#wsl-244-or-greater [7] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/antiz/archlinux-wsl#wsl-prior-to-244 [8] https://lists.archlinux.org/archives/list/arch-dev-public@lists.archlinux.or... -- Regards, Robin Candau / Antiz