Microsoft Windows 10 Upgrade Will Ease Access to Linux Files

(Text from ARRL Letter Dated 2/21/2019)

Microsoft plans to make it easier for Windows 10 to access files stored by some Linux-based operating systems. The next major Windows 10 update, version 1903, due in March or April, will allow Windows 10 File Explorer to access, move, and copy files stored inside Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distributions -- or "distros" in the Linux world.

"In the past, creating and changing Linux files from Windows resulted in losing files or corrupting data," Microsoft program manager Craig Loewen said in a blog post. The WSL allows Windows 10 to run various GNU/Linux distros inside Windows as Microsoft Store apps, providing access to Ubuntu, openSUSE, Debian, Fedora, Kali Linux, and others. Files can also be opened by Windows 10 applications by right clicking and using the "Open with..." option. The team behind WSL says it's working to make WSL files discoverable by File Explorer when the WSL distro is not running.