Microsoft officially announced on Monday its decision to open source Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), nearly a decade after it was first launched. The code is now available on GitHub under the Microsoft/WSL repository, fulfilling a long-standing request from developers using it.
WSL allows developers to run Linux distributions directly on Windows without the need for a dual-boot setup or a separate virtual machine. With this move, users can now download, build, and contribute to the same codebase that powers WSL, marking a significant shift in how the tool is developed and maintained.
This comes just as the company integrates the support for MCP in Windows 11 natively.
The open-sourced portions include everything from command-line entry points like wsl.exe and wslg.exe to binaries that enable Linux functionalities.
Notably, components like lxcore.sys, which is a driver that powers WSL 1, remain closed, along with the filesystem redirection modules p9rdr.sys and p9np.dll.
WSL has travelled a long way since its 2016 debut at Microsoft’s Build conference. Originally designed to run Linux ELF binaries using Windows kernel emulation, it later pivoted to full Linux kernel support with the launch of WSL 2 in 2019.
Earlier, WSL was integrated into Windows, but it was later distributed as a separate package since 2021 which Microsoft began distributing via its store. It reached general availability in 2022 with WSL 1.0, and has since seen steady development. WSL 2.0 introduced networking and firewall upgrades, with the latest 2.5.7 release now shipping with Windows 11 24H2.
This shift brought improved compatibility and performance, setting the stage for graphical support, systemd integration, and GPU acceleration.
Microsoft credits the developer community for sustaining WSL over the years, despite having no access to its source code. With the recent announcement, that dynamic is set to change.
“WSL could never have been what it is today without its community,” the announcement stated.
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