It is suitable for specific tasks on Windows; however, when it comes to using a Linux distribution full-time, I prefer Zorin ...

May 21, 2025, 7:06 a.m. PT HJBC/Getty Images It took Microsoft long enough, but the company has finally open-sourced its Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) code.

The other component that will remain closed source are the P9rdr.sys and p9np.dll files that make it possible to use “\wsl.localhost” for filesystem redirection from Windows to Linux.

It didn’t, however, make Lxcore.sys, P9rdr.sys, or p9np.dll open source, as they are part of Windows. If you want to download the source code for version 2.5.7, GitHub is the place to go.

Although Linux continues to grow, distributions could attract - and retain - even more new users with just a few tweaks.

Microsoft has open-sourced the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), making its source code available on GitHub, except for a few components that are part of Windows.

Microsoft closes 9-year-old feature request, open-sources Windows Subsystem for Linux WSL has also recently added official support for both Fedora and Arch distros.

W indows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) was released in 2016 as a solution from Microsoft to forego the need to set up a dual-boot ...

Microsoft is making its Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) open-source today, opening up the code for community members to contribute to. After launching WSL for Windows 10 nearly nine years ago ...

Microsoft has officially open-sourced Windows Subsystem for Linux at its annual software engineer and web developer conference, Microsoft Build 2025.

Lxcore.sys, the kernel-side driver that powers WSL 1. P9rdr.sys. P9np.dll, both of which run the “\\wsl.localhost” filesystem redirection from Windows to Linux.