WSL needs a pure launcher, decoupling invocation from any terminal handling (aka passthrough)
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- Dominant language
- C++
- Stars
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Description
In microsoft/terminal#1173 there is a discussion about ConPTY passthrough mode for Windows Terminal, in order to support pure VT-style terminal applications to connect to applications.
However, in the context of WSL, the issue is a bit misplaced there as it belongs in the pure WSL domain.
The current launcher wsl.exe makes an unfortunate bundle between actually launching WSL, and providing any supposed connection to Windows Terminal, including conhost compatibility. These are two distinct functions and there should be a decoupled WSL launcher which can run in a terminal (whether remote, or a local application) and contains none of the Windows Terminal functionality at all in the first place. This would resolve WSL connectivity issues for a number of scenarios.
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 reading the current wsl.exe launcher behavior and the discussion in microsoft/terminal#1173 about ConPTY passthrough. Define the boundary between launching WSL and terminal or conhost handling; done means a pure launcher can connect to local or remote terminals without Windows Terminal functionality.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- cpp
- Domain
- cli, operating-systems
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100