WSL or dual boot ?

[Justaphysicsnerd]

For the Mods : I didn't know whether to post it in the linux sub-forum or in the windows one hence I have posted it in the general one. Also this kinda has stuff related to storage drives so I was confused as to which sub-forum it should go to.

 

Right now, I have an HP Omen 15 Laptop (Ryzen 5 4600H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, GTX 1660Ti and a single 512GB WD SN730) which runs Windows 11, very soon (in a month) my college will begin classes for the first year and I will have to use Linux for quite a bit of stuff (engineering college) like for MATLAB (they have the linux version) and other courses. So two things come to my mind : either dual boot linux (with which I have had some traumatic experience since getting rid of the dual boot config has always caused some issues) or use WSL 2 (which on Windows 11 supports GUI apps). Is the performance good enough on WSL ? like are there any disadvantages to running it ?

 

Also, can I setup WSL so that the data wouldn't be stored on my C: Drive partition ?

[Skiiwee29]

Since this involves both Windows and Linux and wanting to Dual Boot, I have placed this in the Operating Systems section, rather than a specific. 

[Master Disaster]

I really wouldn't trust WSL for doing anything more than basic Qt/GTK rendering. Honestly, everything I've tried on WSLg has worked but then again, I haven't tried anything even remotely demanding.

 

I'm going to assume the CAD software will have other library dependencies not present in WSL and it will almost certainly work better with full GPU acceleration. AFAIK its still not possible to run a full desktop environment on WSL so I would strongly advise you go with the dual booting option.

[GoodBytes]

On 11/7/2021 at 4:38 AM, Justaphysicsnerd said:

For the Mods : I didn't know whether to post it in the linux sub-forum or in the windows one hence I have posted it in the general one. Also this kinda has stuff related to storage drives so I was confused as to which sub-forum it should go to.

 

Right now, I have an HP Omen 15 Laptop (Ryzen 5 4600H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, GTX 1660Ti and a single 512GB WD SN730) which runs Windows 11, very soon (in a month) my college will begin classes for the first year and I will have to use Linux for quite a bit of stuff (engineering college) like for MATLAB (they have the linux version) and other courses. So two things come to my mind : either dual boot linux (with which I have had some traumatic experience since getting rid of the dual boot config has always caused some issues) or use WSL 2 (which on Windows 11 supports GUI apps). Is the performance good enough on WSL ? like are there any disadvantages to running it ?

 

Also, can I setup WSL so that the data wouldn't be stored on my C: Drive partition ?

Universities classes are all designed to be cross OS compatible.

MATLAB has a Windows version

If there is a programming class, it will be in Java, or basic C++ (you won't use OS features, so beside a recompiles, there would be no conversion. The only lib you'll most likely be using is the standard C++ libs which are cross platform).

 

WSL is used a lot in the work field in software development. I use it daily. It deliver great performance. If your doing machine learning/AI development, you have Nvidia, AMD and Intel that released special drivers for it, so that it can utilize the GPU. You can read more about it here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-apps

(That said, it wasn't designed to play games under WSL... So if you wanted to play that exclusive Linux game that you always wanted, maybe dual boot would be best for the best experience)

 

WSL is installed where Windows is installed. Your distro is installed in your user profile (C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Packages\)

 

WSL2 has a performance limitation. There is a notable performance impact if you are under WSL and accessing/reading/writing files stored under Windows side. This is documented by Microsoft. It is recommended to keep your project under your Linux distro side when you work under WSL for the best performance.  What it means is that it isn't recommended that you have your project files under, say, C:\Users\<accoun>\Documents\MySuperProject folder. You want it under /home/projects/my_super_project. 

 

To access your Linux files from Windows (say to submit your work for a class), or you just prefer Windows File Explorer to browse your files under Linux, simply execute under WSL:

explorer.exe .

which will open Windows Explorer to the folder you are in now in your terminal under WSL. Yes, you can execute Windows executables under WSL

 

Say you are in your home folder under WSL and you execute the command above, it will open File Explorer to:

\\wsl.localhost\<distro>\home\<user name>

And you can see all your files there.

 

DO NOT, under no circumstance access your files under C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Packages\. Anything you touch in there will be corrupted, if you do.

Go through: \\wsl.localhost\

 

The distro I highly recommend, which provides, so far, the best support is: Ubuntu.

 

 

[Justaphysicsnerd]

On 11/8/2021 at 5:15 PM, GoodBytes said:

Universities classes are all designed to be cross OS compatible.

I hope so, but I don't have high hopes where I am from. Here the teachers/ IT staff in schools and colleges don't tend to be that technically literate i.e. instead of helping you get the program on windows they will install linux on your computer without asking you.

 

On 11/8/2021 at 5:15 PM, GoodBytes said:

If there is a programming class, it will be in Java, or basic C++

yeah ik, it will be either C or C++ or Python

 

About, WSL....so if I have to use GUI apps, I should dual boot and If I have to use the terminal or stuff that doesn't need GUI, I can use it but there will be performance hit ?

[GoodBytes]

7 hours ago, Justaphysicsnerd said:

yeah ik, it will be either C or C++ or Python

Well Python is cross platform. Libs will take of the OS differences.

 

7 hours ago, Justaphysicsnerd said:

About, WSL....so if I have to use GUI apps, I should dual boot and If I have to use the terminal or stuff that doesn't need GUI, I can use it but there will be performance hit ?

Depends. I have not tested every app under Linux. Seems to be working fine on my side on what I tried. Just note that some apps might need KDE other Gnome, and you have to do some work to get it working.. but that is Linux for you.

 

Try and find out what app you might use, and set them up in advance.

[uncreativespace]

On 11/9/2021 at 8:50 AM, Justaphysicsnerd said:

I hope so, but I don't have high hopes where I am from. Here the teachers/ IT staff in schools and colleges don't tend to be that technically literate i.e. instead of helping you get the program on windows they will install linux on your computer without asking you.

 

Personal experience on both sides of this (student\staff). If they're anything like what I experienced the IT staff won't know how to interact within the program but they should either have an allotment of Windows licenses for students (in regards to MATLAB etc.) or a portal where you can get a discounted edition.

A bigger concern might be if a T.A. or Prof suggests that any problems are related to the OS even if you're using the same programs (seen it happen when T.A.'s get too busy, relevant or not). Sometimes it's just not worth it and dual booting for classwork saves you the frustration.

[whm1974]

On 11/9/2021 at 9:50 AM, Justaphysicsnerd said:

I hope so, but I don't have high hopes where I am from. Here the teachers/ IT staff in schools and colleges don't tend to be that technically literate i.e. instead of helping you get the program on windows they will install linux on your computer without asking you.

Where in Hell are you from that Staff will install Linux or anything else without your permission?

[Justaphysicsnerd]

22 hours ago, whm1974 said:

Where in Hell are you from that Staff will install Linux or anything else without your permission?

India, 

I know it sounds weird but this place really is weird.

[D_Lo]

This is a great recap that I will bookmark. I have a similar question/concern, is Windows 11 WSL approach suitable to install a build environment that I'd like to use to compile a c++ code for several targets (windows 64bit, Android), which is usually done on a Linux system?

I was actually offered support by a developper familiar with Linux build environement with Ubuntu distribution rather than using Windows Visual Code that might not work.

In other words, @GoodBytes will these following build environment requirements be possible and operational with WSL install in Windows 11 (64bit) and a distro like Ubuntu, and therfore be providing a reliable substitute for a dual boot Linux system?

 

The following build environment is needed for all targets:

• GNU make

• GNU compiler collection (gcc), version 6 or later or clang/LLVM 4.0 (with ”make CLANG=y”)

• GNU gettext

• rsvg • ImageMagick 6.4

• xsltproc

• Info-ZIP

• Perl and XML::Parser

• FFmpeg

 

Compiling for Linux:  • zlib • CURL • Lua • libinput  • SDL • SDL_ttf • libpng • libjpeg • OpenGL (Mesa) • one of the following fonts (Debian package): DejaVu (fonts-dejavu), Roboto (fontsroboto), Droid (fonts-droid), Freefont (fonts-freefontttf)

 

Compiling for Android the following is needed: • Android SDK level 26 • Android NDK r22b • Ogg Vorbis • Java JDK

The required Android SDK components are: • Android SDK Build-Tools 28.0.3 • SDK Platform 26

 

To cross-compile to (desktop) Windows, will need Mingw-w64

 

The source code is managed with git (github.com) and the code compiled/run with gnu Make.

 

Thank you for your input.

 

 

 

On 11/8/2021 at 12:45 PM, GoodBytes said:

[...]

WSL is used a lot in the work field in software development. I use it daily. It deliver great performance. If your doing machine learning/AI development, you have Nvidia, AMD and Intel that released special drivers for it, so that it can utilize the GPU. You can read more about it here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-apps

(That said, it wasn't designed to play games under WSL... So if you wanted to play that exclusive Linux game that you always wanted, maybe dual boot would be best for the best experience)

 

[...]

 

DO NOT, under no circumstance access your files under C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Packages\. Anything you touch in there will be corrupted, if you do.

Go through: \\wsl.localhost\

 

The distro I highly recommend, which provides, so far, the best support is: Ubuntu.