BTW Windows Subsystem for Linux officially uses Arch now

The tryhard's favorite distro wins an approved home in Microsoft's OS

There have been unofficial versions for years, but Arch Linux is now officially on the menu for people using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Robin Candau, an Arch Linux developer from Normandy, recently revealed that Arch Linux now has an official WSL image. Candau has been developing the project's WSL 2 image for some time, but now it appears on the list of available distros for WSL 2. Microsoft has moved quickly since the initial request back in February.

No messing with custom containers or images – one command is all it takes

WSL 2 has supported installing custom distros since its early days, and there have been projects to run Arch this way, such as ArchWSL. Now, though, it appears right there on the menu. We tried it on Windows 11 and after a mere half-hour or so of updates and no more than two or three reboots, we were able to request a list of distros – and there it was:

PS C:\Users\lprov> wsl -l -o
The following is a list of valid distributions that can be installed.
Install using 'wsl.exe --install <distro>'.

NAME                            FRIENDLY NAME
AlmaLinux-8                     AlmaLinux OS 8
AlmaLinux-9                     AlmaLinux OS 9
AlmaLinux-Kitten-10             AlmaLinux OS Kitten 10
Debian                          Debian GNU/Linux
FedoraLinux-42                  Fedora Linux 42
SUSE-Linux-Enterprise-15-SP5    SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP5
SUSE-Linux-Enterprise-15-SP6    SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 SP6
Ubuntu                          Ubuntu
Ubuntu-24.04                    Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
archlinux                       Arch Linux
kali-linux                      Kali Linux Rolling
openSUSE-Tumbleweed             openSUSE Tumbleweed
openSUSE-Leap-15.6              openSUSE Leap 15.6
Ubuntu-18.04                    Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Ubuntu-20.04                    Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Ubuntu-22.04                    Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
OracleLinux_7_9                 Oracle Linux 7.9
OracleLinux_8_7                 Oracle Linux 8.7
OracleLinux_9_1                 Oracle Linux 9.1</distro>

Although the more ready-to-use sort of Linux distros tend to hog the limelight, in some sectors Arch is genuinely one of the most popular. It's the basis of multiple downstream distros, including Valve's SteamOS for the Steam Deck handheld games console, as well as Arch downstream distros such as EndeavourOS and Manjaro.

Installing Arch into WSL 2 is impressively fast, but you should do an update immediately – click to enlarge

As we reported when Valve became an Arch sponsor, the usage figures for Steam on Linux put Arch's numbers at about double Ubuntu's. The latest Steam survey bears that out: it's at 9.68 per cent, with Linux Mint a distant second at 5.31 per cent. (Click on the "Linux" heading for a percentage breakdown. Arch has a clear lead, although amalgamated with its two downstreams, we make its share 14.74 per cent, versus 16.09 per cent for all the Ubuntu derivatives. That's still pretty good.)

Arch does attract some affectionate derision online, but we respect it all the same. For folks who have graduated from the entry-level distros and now have preferences as well as knowledge and want to construct their own OS installation, Arch is a great next step.

The flip side of that coin is that even if you work with Linux professionally, you may not have the option of running it on your work machine. As Candau himself says:

Despite being employed as a Linux system engineer, I personally never had the chance to work for a company that allowed me to run Linux on my workstation yet… The usage of Windows was always required by their "internal policy".

We're sure many other unwilling Windows users are in the same situation. Now they have a refreshing choice other than Ubuntu, Debian, openSUSE or various flavors of RHELative. ®

Bootnote

A colleague informs us that no less a luminary than Felix Kjellberg, AKA "PewDiePie," now uses Arch.