I'm looking for some useful tools or libraries that can enhance my experience with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Someone suggested checking out WSLg to improve my setup, and I found some helpful links related to it. But I'm curious if there are any other lesser-known tools or libraries that could make working with WSL more efficient or enjoyable?
5 Answers
Some tips that apply to Linux users in general, not just WSL: installing `oh-my-bash` with a nice theme is a must! If you like shells, try `fish` or `zsh` with their equivalents. It’s also handy to define your completions. Plus, enhance your terminal experience with a bit of transparency if you prefer. Don't forget to set VSCode as your default editor with `EDITOR=code --wait` in your `.bashrc`. Even if you fancy Vim, VSCode is great for managing Git!
Using Windows Terminal with WSL makes a huge difference! If you're not too keen on a GUI, WSLg might be more than you need. Even without GitKraken, you can manage source control easily in VSCode. Just type `wsl` in your terminal and it opens your WSL instance like a breeze, letting you run bash scripts and more effortlessly. You can even keep your files in the Windows filesystem if you want!
You definitely need to try out `pbcopy` and `pbpaste` on WSL2. They allow you to easily copy to and from your clipboard, which is super handy! Here's a link with more details on using them: https://lloydrochester.com/post/unix/wsl-pbcopy-pbpaste/
That's a good call! I actually set up aliases for these commands—`sc` for set clipboard and `gc` for get clipboard. Makes it so easy! For example, `cat file.txt | sc` lets me copy the contents of a file directly.
I wouldn’t say these tools are super obscure, but tools like `ripgrep`, `fd-find`, and `sed` are incredibly powerful. Also, check out `zsh` with `oh-my-zsh`, and if you're into editing code, `Neovim` can be a game changer!
If you haven't yet, consider using Byobu. It's a fantastic tool for improving your terminal usage, especially in a WSL environment.
You can, but just a heads up—keeping large projects in the Windows filesystem can slow things down quite a bit.