A real Linux kernel and userland running alongside Windows - architecture, integration, and daily use.
A safe Windows-WSL Git credential setup using GCM's Windows helper, executable interop, helper precedence, path quoting, host scoping, tests, and cleanup.
A supported-boundary SSH workflow that delegates to Windows OpenSSH from WSL, uses the Windows agent, preserves host identity, and avoids private-key copies.
A boundary-focused guide to Hyper-V socket transport in WSL 2, service identifiers, AF_VSOCK and AF_HYPERV sides, framing, identity, lifetime, and testing.
A precise model of WSL 2 NAT and mirrored networking, localhost proxying, listener addresses, IPv4 and IPv6, firewalls, remote LAN access, and diagnosis.
How WSL ext4.vhdx allocation grows, what sparse mode and discard can reclaim, why deletion is not compaction, and how to back up, change, and verify safely.
What WSL's automatic proxy discovery can transfer from Windows to Linux, where individual tools still diverge, and how to debug enterprise proxies safely.
Why a successful tar export can still contain application-inconsistent data, and how to build a WSL backup you can actually restore from.
What starts when the first Linux process launches in WSL 2, which configuration is read at each stage, and why a distro can fail before the shell even appears.
Using explicit mounts and clear ownership boundaries instead of pointing multiple WSL distributions at the same fragile private state.
Building or selecting a compatible WSL 2 kernel, configuring .wslconfig correctly, and keeping a working path back to Microsoft's default kernel.