Update on WLinux 1.2

WLinux 1.2 is just around the corner, expected in March. WLinux 1.2 will feature wlinux-base and wlinux-setup packages built using our CI/CD to apt package repository workflow. The workflow is powered by CircleCI and packagecloud.io.

This new workflow will make testing, building, and pushing updates to WLinux optimizations for WSL (packaged in wlinux-base) and WLinux Setup (packaged in wlinux-setup) much smoother.

Going forward it will allow us to iterate must faster with less risk of user environment breakage. It will also eliminate the current unsecure method of upgrading wlinux-setup from GitHub and the burden of trying to manage all WLinux users' WSL optimizations from within wlinux-setup.

wlinux-setup in WLinux 1.2 will be much more modular, which will be easier to update and lower the barrier to entry for users who want to submit features. It also is our first step towards making wlinux-setup fully extensible.

WLinux 1.2 will also feature version 2.0 of wslutilities, an independent project of WLinux core contributor Patrick.

Kim has been addressing all the quirks of Debian package management, getting our wlinux-base overlay to work, ironing out issues in the modularization of wlinux-setup, and fixing dozens of tiny bugs that cropped up in the process. Kim has also optimized how several development environments are installed using wlinux-setup to make using them easier, by among other things ensuring paths and permissions are set to sane defaults and they are accessible in friendly and uniform location.

Carlos has been reviewing our code, issuing patches, and helping support users on the GitHub. We are so thankful for his support, especially because we temporarily doubled the work of patching with our separate mainline and 1.2 code bases. We will be merging that 1.2 code soon. Carlos wrote the core of our secure bridge to Docker. Did you know he is involved in the Wine project and his voting software is used by millions of voters all around the world every year?

Drop an e-mail to hayden@whitewaterfoundry.com if you would like to receive a release candidate build of WLinux 1.2.