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Linux Virtualization With Xen and Running Windows Under GNU/Linux
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XDA ☛ The Xen hypervisor ain’t dead yet – two of the coolest Linux distros still use it
Back when ESXi used to dominate the home server ecosystem, Xen was the other key player for Linux-centric setups. But with the rise of KVM, the situation is a lot different from what it used to be. These days, most folks tend to prefer KVM-powered home labs, with Hyper-V and ESXi being the other popular options. Meanwhile, Xen is no longer as popular as it used to be – to the point where you might come across folks who consider it a dead hypervisor.
Now, I’m a staunch member of the KVM faction with multiple Proxmox nodes, but Xen is far from the outdated relic that many tinkerers consider it to be. Sure, it’s mostly used in commercial setups and production environments. But you can just as easily configure it on your favorite distro and use it to spin up a few VMs. And once you dig a little deeper, you’ll come across these slick distros that are centered around the Xen hypervisor.
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XDA ☛ WSL convinced me Linux works on Windows, so I flipped it and run Windows on Linux instead
For many people, the Windows Subsystem for Linux, or WSL, is a great way to use the tools you need in Linux while staying on Windows most of the time. You can just use Windows for most of your tasks, and then boot up WSL whenever you need something from a Linux distro.
WSL was my first exposure to Linux, and it showed me that it can, in fact, do a lot of the things Windows can. And that's true to the point that, today, I'd rather use Linux full-time. So, instead of using WSL to run Linux on Windows, I'm doing the opposite and running Windows on Linux.