Windows Subsystem for Linux Is Open Source ![rw-book-cover](https://wsrv.nl/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.changelog.com%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fpodcasts%2Fpodcast-original-f16d0363067166f241d080ee2e2d4a28.png&w=100&h=100) ## Metadata - Author: [[The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source]] - Full Title: Windows Subsystem for Linux Is Open Source - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/cef4e2de-6529-417e-9952-17caed30114e ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **WSL Open Sourced by Microsoft** - Microsoft opened the source code of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) at Build 2025. - This move recognizes and embraces community contributions that shaped WSL's success. Transcript: Jerod Santo Okay, let's get into the news. Windows subsystem for Linux is open source. The announcement that WSL is now finally open source garnered perhaps the biggest applause break of the entire build keynote. Turns out, opening the source of a beloved developer tool slash platform at a developer conference is an easy win. From the announcement post, quote, WSL could never have been what it is today without its community. Even without access to WSL's source code, people have been able to make major contributions that led to what WSL is now. This is why we are incredibly excited to open source WSL today. We've seen how much the community has contributed to WSL without access to the source code, and we can't wait to see how WSL will evolve now that the community can make direct code contributions To the project. End quote. Windows Subsystem for Linux is one of the coolest things Microsoft has built this decade, and having it out there in the open makes it even cooler. ([Time 0:00:50](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c4fdc29c-3fb0-4628-ac82-3e7e60fbee74)) - **Hypertyping in TypeScript** - Paolo Scanferla calls complex, overly strict types in TypeScript 'hypertyping.' - Hypertyping can cause cryptic errors and unsafe workarounds, making simpler types more practical. Transcript: Jerod Santo Hypertyping. Paolo Scanferla describes an inherent trade-off in TypeScript's type system. Stricter types are safer, but often more complex. He calls this phenomenon hypertyping, which is, quote, where libraries, in pursuit of perfect type safety, end up with overly complex types that are hard to understand, produce cryptic Errors, and paradoxically even lead to unsafe workarounds. End quote. Paolo argues that simpler types or even type generation often lead to a more practical and enjoyable developer experience, despite being less perfect. Turns out, perfect really is the enemy of good, even in TypeScript. ([Time 0:01:52](https://share.snipd.com/snip/bd37034c-07fd-4413-88e4-54b2124f54c3)) - **Alberto Fortin's AI Coding Experience** - Alberto Fortin reviewed AI-generated code he had rushed through using LLMs and found problems. - After stepping back, he uses LLMs only for simple tasks, improving his understanding and debugging. Transcript: Jerod Santo I'm going back to using my brain. Alberto Fortin is taking a step back from heavy LLM use while coding. Why? Quote, one morning, I decided to actually inspect closely what's all this code that cursor has been writing. It's not like I was blindly prompting without looking at the end result, but I was optimizing for speed, and I hadn't actually sat down just to review the code. I was just building, building, building. So I do a coding review session, and the horror ensues. End quote. I won't list all the horrors here. You can probably guess what they are. Here's Alberto's experience after stepping back. Quote, since I've taken a step back, debugging has become easier. Maybe I'm not as fast, but I don't have this weird feeling of, I kind of wrote this code, but I actually have no idea what's in it. I'm still using LLMs, but for dumber things, like rename all occurrences of this parameter, or here's some pseudocode. Give me the Go equivalent. It's now time for sponsored news. ([Time 0:02:32](https://share.snipd.com/snip/31ed0e9c-25c9-4cd0-9e41-718de242ec94)) - **Coding Full-Time on an Android Phone** - A pseudonymous hacker code wholly from their Android phone for two weeks using a folding keyboard and AR glasses. - They liked pocket-sized portability, outdoor usability, tight space comfort, and always-on cellular connection. Transcript: Jerod Santo Check them out at retool.com. Coding without a laptop. Did you know you can run a full desktop Linux environment on your phone? Not some clunky virtual machine and not an outright OS replacement like Ubuntu Touch or Postmarket OS. Just native ARM64 binaries running inside a little cheroot container on Android. Pretty cool. The pseudonymous hacker who blogs at holdtherobot.com had a two-week trip coming up where they needed to work, and they got obsessed with the idea of leaving their laptop at home and Just using their phone. So they added a folding keyboard and some AR glasses. The whole setup cost $636. And here's four reasons why they still like the idea after trying it on for a bit. One, it really does fit into your pockets. No bag, nothing to carry. Two, I can use it outdoors in bright sunlight. I wrote most of this blog post sitting at a picnic table in a park. Screen glare and brightness is not an issue. Three, I can fit into tight spaces. This setup was infinitely more comfortable than a laptop when on a plane. Some coffee shops also have narrow bars that are too small for a laptop, but not for this. And four, the phone has a cellular connection, so I'm not tied to Wi-Fi. ([Time 0:04:33](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c42ec62e-c616-4827-ba16-0e85d874fea4)) - **NLWeb: AI Agentic Web HTML** - Microsoft's CTO Kevin Scott presented NLWeb as an "HTML equivalent" for the open agentic AI web. - NLWeb aims to establish open protocols and tools that form a foundation layer like HTML did for the traditional web. Transcript: Jerod Santo Microsoft wants this to be the HTML of the agentic web. The most interesting segment of today's build keynote in my eyes was when CTO Kevin Scott took the stage to discuss the open agentic web and Microsoft's commitment to it. He emphasized the importance of protocols and Microsoft's support of MCP. Then he compared MCP to HTTP and said we need an HTML equivalent to sit on top. That's when he introduced NLWeb as Microsoft's attempt at defining the HTML of the agentic web. Quote, NLWeb is a collection of open protocols and associated open source tools. Its main focus is establishing a foundational layer for the AI web, much like HTML revolutionized document sharing. To make this vision reality, NLWeb provides practical implementation code, not as the definitive solution, as proof of concept demonstrations showing one possible approach, end Quote. This is early days and things are moving fast. ([Time 0:05:53](https://share.snipd.com/snip/500abe44-e9e9-4bad-b5a2-9fb62ef6987a))