Allow WSL distros to change their WSL name
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- C++
- Stars
- 33.7k
- Forks
- 1.8k
- Avg merge
- 3d 17h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 116
Description
We rebranded WLinux to Pengwin.
We maintained the WLinux name in the WSL API 1 in order to avoid breakage 2.
However this means Pengwin still appears as \WSL$\WLinux in Explorer.
It also means Pengwin appears as WLinux in the new Terminal application.
We could issue a new package of Pengwin in the Store with the new name in the API, offering it for free to everyone who has bought the old Pengwin, but it would mean a lot of links to the old package would break and would cause user confusion.
If down the line it becomes possible to rename WSL distros or identify them with a specific UUID and string that can change, it would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reviewing the WSL API behavior described in the issue and the linked DistributionInfo.h reference, then investigate how distro names are exposed to Explorer and the Terminal application. Done would mean supporting a changeable display name or stable identity without breaking existing package links or WSL paths.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- cpp
- Domain
- operating-systems
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100