After the announcement of the Bash shell and its formal entry into the Linux Foundation, the Redmond giant knows very well that improving its relationship with the open-source platform will be hard if it doesn't capture the attention of developers. For this reason, a new short on the famous Channel 9 suggests they "give Bash a try" inside an Insider build and report bugs, but it also anticipates that more features will be added, to the point that Linux distributions could eventually be replaced by Windows 10.
No need to be clairvoyant to understand that the main reason behind this shift in favor of open-source technologies is the cloud. Azure is a monster, but it needs to guarantee interoperability with other tools, and that includes all resources used daily by developers. The appearance of Bash and Microsoft's entry into the Linux Foundation are the two most publicized examples. However, what really matters here is finding a way to win the trust of creators, who, by the way, feel very comfortable on Linux. The latest attempt to communicate the company's efforts in this field comes through Rich Turner, a senior program manager who joined Microsoft last February.
Basically, Turner's message is an invitation to Linux developers to try to do in Bash WSL the same things they can do today in a traditional distro. From running code and special tools to hosting a site on Apache or accessing a MySQL database with Java code. It doesn't matter which language you choose (Go, Erlang and C were mentioned): the idea is that they give Bash WSL a chance inside an Insider build and report any bugs they find along the way. On the other hand, in the video (whose link is at the bottom of the article) Turner admits that "they are not done yet" and that they have "a long way to go" before declaring Bash WSL compatible with the most popular tools. In the works are better support for Linux syscalls and the update to Ubuntu 16.04 on WSL.
In other words, Microsoft is asking for feedback. Not surprising if we consider that Redmond has virtually "outsourced ad honorem" the testing of its products to users, a strategy that has had consequences, starting with a notable decline in quality control. Have you tried Bash on Windows 10? The comments are open.
