Company hiring “for the future of Ubuntu on WSL”

Dec 8, 2019 08:05 GMT  ·  By

The Windows Subsystem for Linux, or WSL, is a feature bundled in Windows 10 that allows users to run Linux on top of Microsoft’s operating system.

Already at the second generation, WSL managed to bring together the worlds of Windows and Linux, and contrary to what many users would have imagined a few years ago, the majority of Linux developers have already joined this new push.

This is why right now, the Linux distros available in WSL include top names like Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Kali, and OpenSuSE.

When it comes to WSL, Canonical, the maker of Ubuntu, not only that is committed to supporting it, but wants to be “at the forefront of what’s possible on WSL.”

Leading the WSL push

That’s why Canonical has recently started hiring desktop software engineers for WSL, with the job ad itself providing not only useful information for those who want to join the company, but also clear hints as to how it sees its investment in Windows 10 in the long term.

“We think WSL is a fantastic way for Windows users to experience Ubuntu on their desktop, easing their development processes and allowing for local development and testing on Windows before deploying to Ubuntu in the cloud,” the ad reads.

Canonical wants Ubuntu to deliver “the best Linux experience on WSL to a huge audience,” pointing out that whoever is interested in working on this must have “a clear passion for the future of Ubuntu on WSL.”

Microsoft and Linux developers working so closely together is something that was hard to envision a decade ago, especially after the famous statement released by the former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and comparing Linux with “a cancer.”

In the meantime, however, nearly everything at Microsoft has changed, including not only the person in charge of the company’s long-term strategy, but also the approach of Steve Ballmer himself towards Linux.

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