carpentries / carpentries/workshop-template
Default start directory in Ubuntu on WSL
- Dominant language
- HTML
- Stars
- 270
- Forks
- 531
- Avg merge
- 5d 6h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 1
Description
refering to new installation guide for unix shell: https://github.com/carpentries/workshop-template/blob/gh-pages/_includes/install_instructions/shell.html
When using Ubuntu via WSL on Windows, the shell by default starts in the Linux home directory (`/home/`), not in the Windows home directory. This can cause confusion e.g. for a Library Carpentry with the shell-lesson folder, especially when participants are asked to place the shell-lesson folder on their Windows Desktop.
### Problem
If the folder is on the Windows Desktop, the path to access it is:
```
/mnt/c/Users//Desktop/shell-lesson
```
Instead of the simpler command from the lesson:
```
cd Desktop/shell-lesson
```
This mismatch may confuse beginners and lead to errors.
### Possible solutions
#### Pre-workshop setup
Ask learners to add the following line at the end of their ~/.bashrc so that their shell starts in the Windows home directory:
```
cd /mnt/c/Users/
```
I did it like this in my last workshop. In that case `cd` won't bring them back to the Windows Home directory, but therefore I did not change the Home path permanently and I did not run into errors later when installing conda-forge through WSL or setting an SSH key pair for the Git Lesson.
#### Adapt the lesson
Update the Shell lesson instructions to explain that on WSL, learners might need to either
use the full Windows path under /mnt/c/..., or
move the shell-lesson folder into their Ubuntu home (/home/) via the terminal before starting the exercises.
This clarification would prevent confusion and make the experience smoother for WSL users.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Read _includes/install_instructions/shell.html and compare its Desktop navigation example with the WSL paths described in the issue. Update the guidance so WSL learners know which path or setup applies, then verify that a beginner can locate shell-lesson from the instructions without ambiguity.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- bash, html, ubuntu
- Domain
- documentation, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100