re all,

not sure anyone here has spotted this, mostly a news item for now
(haven't tried) and a derivative of Debian that claims to be
systemd-free (well, rather easy since it is mostly shell based)

https://linux.slashdot.org/story/18/09/22/0150209/new-custom-linux-distro-is-systemd-free-debian-based-and-optimized-for-windows-10

licensing-wise has a rather dodgy change to MIT, here the text on /.

Nearly every Linux distro is already available in the Microsoft
Store, allowing developers to use Linux scripting and other tools
running on the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Now another distro
has popped up in the Store, and unlike the others it claims to be
specifically optimised for WSL, meaning a smaller and more
appropriate package with sane defaults which helps developers get up
and running faster.

WLinux is based on Debian, and the developer, Whitewater Foundry,
claims their custom distro will also allow faster patching of
security and compatibility issues that appear from time to time
between upstream distros and WSL... Popular development tools,
including git and python3, are pre-installed. Additional packages
can be easily installed via the apt package management system... A
handful of unnecessary packages, such as systemd, have been removed
to improve stability and security.

The distro also offers out of the box support for GUI apps with your
choice of X client, according to the original submission.

WLinux is open source under the MIT license, and is available for
free on GitHub. It can also be downloaded from Microsoft Store at a
50% discount, with the development company promising the revenue
will be invested back into new features.


I was looking at the linux subsystem some times ago, smart late move
from M$ in fact. Have tested the switch from Debian to Devuan ASCII
and it just works (and yes, works better without systemd).

ciao