What is WSL? Read our walkthrough and answers to the most common questions.

Paweł Baczyński

 or with other technologies, operating on Linux has a number of advantages. One of them is access to Linux Bash with its useful commands.

However, some developers have to or prefer working on Windows. As stackoverflow.com 2020 

 showed, almost half of developers (45,8%) work in the Windows environment. There are tools that bring them closer to the Linux world like 

The WSL provides a near-native Linux experience

Some time ago Microsoft introduced WSL, a new tool that brings Windows users even closer to the Linux experience. Here you can find gathered some frequently asked questions and our expert’s experience to help you get a better understanding of the WSL.

WSL or Windows Subsystem for Linux is a part of the Windows operating system that allows running native Linux binaries. A number of distributions exist that can be installed and used.

The first thing to do before installing any Linux distribution is to install the WSL itself.

Now you are ready to select and install a Linux distribution of your choice.

What Linux distributions are available on WSL?

To find a list of available distributions open Windows Store and search for "Linux".
The most popular are:

Is it possible to run graphical Linux applications from WSL?

Yes, it is possible. You need to install an X Window System server application on your Windows, for example 

Then check if your WSL system has a DISPLAY environment variable set up. If not set it to :0.

After this configuration you are free to run native Linux applications with user interface.

Each WSL instance can be further configured by creating and editing a config file /etc/wsl.conf.

All fixed drives with the NTFS or ReFS file system are automatically mounted in /mnt directory. For example a 

The directory where drives are mounted can be specified in /etc/wsl.conf as follows:

This setting will cause drives to be mounted under the root folder, so the C: drive would be accessible through /c folder.

Unlike fixed drives, removable drives are not mounted automatically. To access files stored on a USB stick you need to mount it yourself. For this purpose, use these commands (assume the drive letter in Windows is F):

Optical drives are not as popular nowadays as they used to be. Nonetheless, they can be accessed the same way as pendrives (assume G is the drive letter):

WSL files are exposed through a network share \\wsl$\[distro name], for example my home directory is at \\wsl$\Ubuntu-20.04\home\pawelb.

Physically the WSL files are located at 


My home folder is at this rather long path 

However, it is worth noting that manipulating WSL files from within Windows should be avoided as it can destroy Linux-specific file metadata. If you need to manipulate files on both WSL and Windows, store them on a Windows drive and access them from within WSL via /mnt.

Is it possible to run Windows programs from within WSL?

Yes, the WSL was built with interoperability in mind. It can run native Windows programs. However, if this feature is not needed, the user can disable it by adding enabled=false into [interop] section in wsl.conf.

Any terminal can do the job, even the good old cmd.exe. Just run the WSL command in. There is however one great application that makes running the WSL console easier. It’s 

 and it can be installed from Windows Store. It automatically detects any WSL distributions installed and adds an option to run its console. It also supports regular Windows Command Line, PowerShell, and Azure console out of the box. Also, it supports tabs and split view inside a tab.

By default, WSL can run Windows binaries and also appends its %PATH% variable into the $PATH variable of Linux running under WSL. In most cases, this is useful or at least does no harm. However, sometimes unexpected behavior occurs.

This error message is not helpful at all. What happened?

After some investigation, I found out that I had also installed npm on Windows and WSL was using this executable to run. This unfortunately failed under WSL environment.

A fix was rather simple. I disabled appending Windows %PATH% to WSL $PATH.

The first is to use the Registry Editor (regedit) to add a DWORD AppendNtPath with value 0 under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss. This affects all WSL distributions.

The second way is to set a property in /etc/wsl.conf. This affects only a single distribution.

With the introduction of Windows 10, a lot has changed. It seems that the system and its features are more and more thought-out and intuitive. A programmer needs a proper working environment. With WSL, Windows is keeping up with developments in this area, and looks like it is a step in the right direction. It’s worth having an eye on the development of this solution, hoping that in the future the developers will have a variety of systems that can really compete with each other. Looking for a good and stable, seamless tool, it is worth trying with the WSL.

develops a fleet of software products designed to facilitate EV charging network management. See more about our 

Being an eMobility leader in various projects across multiple startups, Piotr was responsible for OCPI and OCPP integration as well as EMP and CPO platforms development. With extensive expertise in the open standards field and eMobility tech solutions, he is leading teams of experienced developers and contributing with invaluable knowledge and experience.

Piotr Majcher

At Solidstudio, we use a tool setup which is quite popular among IT companies. These two main components play a crucial role in almost every process we run: G Suite and Slack.

We are fans of the LEAN approach, and that’s why we decided not to invest our time and money in tools that we might use in the future, when our company becomes 10 times bigger.

Slack and G Suite are good enough for now. Still, what we missed few times was some automation. There exist Sack applications that provide some level of integration between the tool and G Suite, but they usually have limited capabilities.

Let me show you a use case we decided to try out and how we solved the challenge.

We use Google Spreadsheets for a broad range of tasks at our company. Financial data, reports, different types of KPIs - we track them all in Spreadsheets. Some of the KPIs need to be collected manually. And since they’re stored in a spreadsheet (one of the many that are also important), there is a risk that some of us forget to check it every day.

Pinging people to remind them about updating KPIs,

Sharing the current KPI values with all the interested parties.

To solve these problems, I decided to connect two features/services:

Slack has an Incoming Webhooks mechanism. After a few clicks, we can receive a URL that may be used to send messages to specific Slack channels. It looks like this:

It’s a POST method accepting json body with the message content:

What about the logic responsible for generating the message? It took me just a little time to research this and I found Google Scripts service. Sounds good since the data and processing would be delivered by the same platform. And I wasn't disappointed.

How do I get a spreadsheet? By using this one-liner:

The long id is the string we can take from the browser when we have the spreadsheet open:

Here’s a full example which is able to post reminders if needed, as well as the current KPI value:

Google Scripts provides a way to set up triggers for such functions, and that’s exactly what we were looking for. We have been using this tool since a few weeks and it has worked for us pretty well.

Having such a broad potential for implementation, the Slack notification mechanism integrated with G Suite services is very handy tool. We’re going to use it for other cases like employee reports validation, reminding about invoices that haven’t been moved from the inbox directory in Google Drive, and many, many more use cases.

Automating internal company processes with Google Apps Script and Slack WebHooks

Tips how to prepare a web application for installation on a mobile device

Being a co-founder of Solidstudio, Paweł has got to see all the development phases. He’s a skilled professional with years of experience, both in the software and in the eMobility worlds.

Paweł Głogowski

, almost 50 percent of total Internet usage in the UK comes from mobile phones. Similarly the United States and Europe. Various reasons account for that, but essentially it's because accessing the web using a smartphone or tablet is handy and convenient, particularly for specific sorts of applications. Before I reach the clue of this article - how to add a web page to a mobile device as a Progressive Web Application - I want to clarify some related matters regarding Progressive Web Application.

And why should you be one? The term mobile-friendly has begun to appear in the media more and more often with the growing boom of these handy portable devices - smartphones, tablets and their subsequent variations. For many, initially, mobile-digital was considered just another quirk, but over time it has become a permanent fixture in the canon of being customer friendly. Creating and developing mobile versions of websites, e-commerce and marketplaces became a standard. Simply, because this meets online users' expectations. Plus, from April 2015 Google uses mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. In a nutshell, becoming mobile-friendly, or even mobile-first is beneficial for all parties. For users means better adoption, for business increased visibility & profits and being on the cutting edge of the Internet - mobile-friendly solutions are essential.

Taking a mobile-friendly approach, or becoming mobile-first cannot be achieved without one more factor - Responsive Web Design.

Responsive web design is an approach to web development presented in 2010- five years before PWA was introduced to the world. The general idea is that design responds to the user’s device - size, motion, and orientation. Responsiveness is achieved with the use of fluid grids, flexible images, and media queries. The approach excludes time-consuming development phases which were earlier needed to fit the different screen sizes on the market. Flexibility and the speed of development of responsive websites became a common practice. Now, almost every website you visit is responsive in its nature.


What does PWA have to do with a mobile-friendly approach?

Building a custom application for multiple platforms is usually time- and resource-consuming. In the era where most of the information search and purchases is done online, and the majority of smaller businesses must meet the market demands at the most inexpensive charge. That's where Progressive Web Applications (PWAs)  and responsive design come with help. PWA generally allows you to easily convert your web application into a native application or at least something which is more or less similar to it. PWA, thanks to its fast performance and compatibility with multiple browsers, ranks highly in Google search results. Hence, solves Google's search engine algorithm ranking issue, being mobile-friendly. Websites based on Progressive Web Application appear higher in search results. In this article, I'm going to show you how to add a web page to a mobile device as a Progressive Web Application.

How to build a Progressive Web Application?

Your application needs to meet specific criteria:

It's served over HTTPS for security purposes.

Responsive web design - it needs to look well on various mobile devices.

It should work even when there's no internet connection or at least show an information screen about the lost connection.

It includes "manifest.json," allowing us to add a shortcut to the mobile screen.

It should work well with slower connections.

Let's focus on the manifest.json file, which is required for adding your application to the device's home screen. It basically contains information about the icon's starting address. Let's take a look at the following example of manifest.json file:

yourApplicationName

Making your application usable in case of the lack of an internet connection isn't going to be a part of this article. Instead, we will focus on enabling users to install your application for both iOS and Android applications.

How to "install" your website on a mobile device?

Before we begin, note the huge difference in the attitudes to Progressive Web Applications. In general, Google supports PWA and wants to increase its popularity, while Apple prefers users to install native apps bought in the Apple App Store. However, due to the popularity of PWA, Apple began to support this from version 11.3 of iOS. Starting from version 12.2, PWA works quite well but is still not as stable and fast as on Google Chrome. Let's take a look at how to install your web application on Android devices.

First of all, you need to use Google Chrome because other browsers don't support PWA yet. Google Chrome fires the "beforeinstallprompt" event, which can be handled in a customized way. To do so, add the code shown below on a high level of the application. For a React application, that can be the App.js file.


Without that, you'll see a Chrome embedded info bar with a message like "Add This App to Home Screen" along with the dismiss button. When dismissing this window, expect it to pop up once again in a couple of weeks. You may ask: why bother with a custom solution? Well, first of all, you can create your own solution - it could be an info bar, a banner, or whatever else you want. It can also be customized in terms of colors and layout. A custom solution will significantly improve the user experience. In the above example we use a snackbar to inform users about the possibility of installing the application.

It's basically will show a banner like this

Keep in mind that you should declare deferredPrompt as a global variable. If you fail to do so, the prompt window won't open once again after clicking the cancel button. I believe that the rest of the code is self-explanatory.

Also, you can easily determine if you're using PWA mode. That can be useful because you don't want to show the info bar to users who are already using the PWA. You can do it using the following code:

How to add a PWA to the home screen in iOS?

Unfortunately, accomplishing the same in iOS is far more complicated. Basically, we need to do it manually. The only thing that can be done from the application perspective is showing some kind of information on how to do it. At Solidstudio Software House, we use a snack bar widget that appears at the bottom of the application with a short instruction about how to add it to the home screen. Also, keep in mind that adding a PWA to the home screen in iOS is available only on Safari, and the event "beforeinstallprompt" isn't fired on iOS.


The only challenge here is determining whether the actual device is controlled by iOS. We can do it by analyzing the user agent string. Unfortunately, starting from iOS 13 we can't identify whether it's an iPhone or iPad - instead, it will always show as "

." This is tricky, because we need to recognize if the device is a phone or a tablet. Also, we need to indicate if the current browser is Safari (it doesn't make sense to show that bar on other browsers than Safari). As it turns out, that's not easy, because all browsers on iOS are wrappers on Safari. Consider the following examples:

We search for an iPad, iPhone string in the user agent string for the older version of the iOS system. Analyzing the user agent string, we notice that Safari agents have no references for 'CriOS' or 'FxiOS'. So in the newest version of iOS, you have to determine if the device is a mobile one. At Solidstudio, we use a simple but effective solution to determine it by the width of the screen. Since iPads has 1024 screen width, we can use the following code:

Despite challenges, PWA can be beneficial

Like many solutions, there are some cons. It requires a lot of research and development for a custom solution, but once an effective mechanism is created, it encourages users to install applications on their mobile devices. We worked with the PWA technology in our project for 

. We blend top technologies to offer users native experience and increase engagement with the app. Since PWA may cause some disruptions, here we wanted to share some insights from our experience. Some more solutions, when we are struggling with the auto-refresh of the application in standalone mode, soon will appear on our blog as a follow-up to this article. To stay updated, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter!

Learn how to make usable Progressive Web Application on mobile device.

How to install a Progressive Web Application on a mobile device?

Learn more about the advantages of both solutions Amazon Web Services and Oracle Cloud 

After founding Solidstudio, Pawel was an originator in terms of pursuing expertise in eMobility. With the build-up of a solid knowledge-base on industry’s needs & wants, he now keeps a close eye on products’ development. He’s also hugely responsible for the business’ side and designs the business models for our products.

Paweł Małkowiak

During the last decade, cloud computing has been growing at an exponential rate. The size of the cloud computing market is today larger than ever. COVID-19 outbreak accelerated digital transformation, making cloud computing a priority of choice. In 2020, the public cloud services market reached $257.5 billion in 2020. And according to Gartner forecasts, in 2021 the market revenue will increase 18.4% to a total of $304.9 billion.

Naturally, the cloud computing market has witnessed the rise of several players who now dominate the scene. Gartner's 2020 Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure Professional and Managed Services, positions:

If your organization aims to become more responsive to market changes and increase its operational efficiency, moving to the cloud is a smart move. And sooner or later, you'll have to choose a cloud provider. That's why we are here to give you a helping hand.

Why compare Oracle Cloud and Amazon Web Services? We decided to compare these cloud computing solutions delivered by two different vendors – a market leader and a smaller, but promising provider – to show you their pros and cons. Present how they differ in detail and indicate which factors you need to take into account when choosing the best cloud solution for your business.

Before we jump into details, let’s clarify some significant abbreviations, to be sure we’re on the same page. While browsing tips and clues on computing services you may find IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, DaaS and serverless. Following Microsoft and techopedia definitions:

IaaS - Infrastructure as a service - infrastructure is hosted on the public or private cloud instead of in a traditional on-premises data center. The infrastructure is delivered to customers on demand while being fully managed by the service provider.

PaaS - Platform as a service - offers the same kit as IaaS, plus additional features - middleware, development tools, business intelligence (BI) services, database management systems, and more. PaaS is designed to support the complete web application lifecycle: building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating.

SaaS - Software as a service - a complete software solution that you purchase on a subscription plan from a cloud service provider.

DaaS - Desktop as a service - a cloud computing solution in which virtual desktop infrastructure is outsourced to a third-party provider. DaaS relies on the virtual desktop, which is a user-controlled session or dedicated machine that transforms on-demand cloud services for users and organizations around the world.

Serverless - allows developers to build applications faster by cutting out the need to manage infrastructure. For serverless applications, the cloud provider automatically provisions, scales and manages the infrastructure required to run the code.

Note: the term ‘serverless computing’ applies to the event when the tasks linked with infrastructure provisioning and management are invisible to the developer. Servers are still running the code.

Oracle Cloud is a relatively new solution on the market and can't be compared to AWS in terms of scale. While Oracle Cloud might not occupy top positions in global cloud service provider rankings, the solution has a lot to offer. In fact, Oracle has set its cores on becoming a cloud leader in the future.

To help you recognize what Oracle Cloud is all about, let's explore its key features and capabilities.

By combining IaaS, PaaS, SaaS and DaaS solutions, Oracle provides a broad range of cloud services and products such as:

Business analytics, including Business Intelligence (BI) solutions, Big Data, data visualization, autonomous analytics, and more.

Application development, including mobile, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, database, and more.

Cloud infrastructure setup and maintenance.

Cloud for customer services, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.

Security solutions focused on safety and compliance.

Oracle Cloud offers many services and products as an integrated set, allowing companies to lower their spending by eliminating the need to purchase third-party solutions. This is just one of the many advantages of Oracle. Check a detailed look at the pros of Oracle Cloud:

Integrated technology stack – Oracle delivers apps, middleware, and database as an entire, well-integrated system. There's no need to create a patchwork of third-party services coming from different vendors and go through the trouble of adapting them to the solution. To make the most of Oracle Cloud, it's best to invest in the all-inclusive version.

Smooth customization – Oracle allows its clients to be flexible in setting up the cloud service to match their unique requirements.

Cutting-edge technologies – Oracle is an industry leader whose advanced technologies make its cloud platform fast and high-performing. Speed is definitely a factor that sets this solution apart from others.

Scalable architecture – Oracle offers a sophisticated infrastructure that is fully scalable, allowing organizations to expand their IT platforms as they evolve. That feature is important for large enterprises that are going through the process of digital transformation and may want to revamp their operations in one area after another.

Niche focus – when building its cloud offer, Oracle focused on creating solutions that would match the requirements of specific customer segments. Instead of trying to grow its platform in every possible way, Oracle focuses on improving these capabilities.

Great customer support – you can be sure that your issue will be addressed quickly and effectively.

No solution is perfect, and Oracle Cloud also has its cons. Here are the most important disadvantages of this cloud vendor you should be aware of:

Poor low-end offering – since Oracle is focused on the high end, the offering around the low end is limited.

Poor performance with solutions based on .NET.

A minimum product might not be enough – Oracle provides all the services and products out-of-the-box, but these are very minimal solutions that might not be sufficient for companies that need simple functionalities. Organizations in need of a comprehensive platform are even less likely to get what they need.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a longstanding leader in providing cloud servers and storage to organizations looking to offload their data center infrastructures. In the fourth quarter of 2020, AWS generated revenue of approximately $12.7 billion.

Here's why so many companies choose AWS as their cloud provider today.

AWS offers cloud storage that supports managed, hybrid, block, and low-cost archive storages (such as Elastic File System, Storage Gateway, Glacier, S3, EBS), as well as a wide range of data transport functionalities.

Support for various databases (Aurora, RDS, Redshift, DynamoDB). Note: Aurora, Redshift, and DynamoDB are AWS custom technologies.

Support for advanced technologies (the Internet of Things, augmented reality and virtual reality, machine learning)

Tools that enable monitoring of workloads, configuration, and more.

Tools for security and performance optimization.

Analytics and business productivity, Business Intelligence (BI).

A broad range of developer tools (AWS Code Build, CodePipeline, CodeDeploy).

Top security, identity, and compliance management.

AWS has an excellent track record of successful implementations, and its financial performance attracts even more organizations to its offer.

Here are the key advantages of AWS over competing solutions:

Wide range of capabilities – compared to other cloud providers, Amazon offers the largest number and variety of functionalities. Large organizations invest in AWS because it's a sure-fire way to take full advantage of everything cloud technologies have to offer.

Easy implementation, migration, and management – AWS is surrounded by a large ecosystem of consulting partners and independent vendors who help companies to implement AWS-pre-integrated SaaS solutions.

Security and compliance – companies migrating to AWS can be sure that the processes they perform in the cloud are fully secure and compliant.

Excellent support – Amazon's global reach is reflected in the technical support it provides to the customers of AWS. The extensive multilingual customer support with high availability makes the solution one of the most reliable options on the market. The list of supported languages is constantly growing too.

Data centers around the world – Amazon operates multiple small data centers across the entire globe. This enhances service localization and limits the risk of local incidents.

Continuous offer development – AWS is constantly evolving and enriching its platform with new offerings. The vendor also improves existing functionalities, especially their integration and management.

Pay-as-you-go fee model – AWS offers a pay-as-you-go fee model where customers get to control over how many services they pay for, adding new ones as they grow. Minimizing upfront costs is easy with AWS. Companies can lay out expenses as they grow, without investing in products or services they don't need.

Still, AWS has its limitations that might inspire some customers to choose a different provider. Here are the most relevant disadvantages of AWS you need to take into account when making your decision:

The service implementation is complex – many AWS services require a lot of expertise when it comes to their implementation and support. Moreover, companies that want to make the most of them need to have a firm grasp of service updates and innovations. However, you can be sure that managed services providers know how to implement AWS technologies properly and can seek their assistance if you need it.

High pricing – an AWS-based solution might seem to come at a reasonable price. But if you want to create a custom solution that meets the specific requirements, be prepared for larger expenses than expected.

AWS or Oracle – which one should you choose?

The payment model of AWS allows smooth adaptability to market changes and fluctuations, helping your business stay nimble and invest in cloud computing at its own pace. Oracle Cloud also enables users to leverage flexibility, depending on how often customers need to rely on its services. AWS has established a large market presence and operates multiple data centers across the world. Their experience in delivering cloud services and excellent multilingual support is a significant competitive advantage.

Oracle Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are the two notable players in the cloud market. Choosing between the two options might be tricky, but we hope this guide helps you determine which platform will suit your business needs best.

Running a small startup or an enterprise-sized organization? It doesn’t matter - your data and cloud computing needs will rapidly grow, so you need a solution that will accommodate easily. At Solidstudio we help to fit the right solutions. If you still have some concerns, feel free to drop your e-mail. Or fill the contact form and take advantage of our digital transformation experience. Check back soon!

Learn more about how Amazon Web Services (AWS) compares to Oracle Cloud platform and what to choose to fully benefit the cloud.

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) explained

10 NOVEMBER 2020 • 10 MIN READ