# Ubuntu WSL

This documentation refers to the Ubuntu distribution for WSL.

## Windows Subsystem for Linux

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) lets developers run a GNU/Linux environment -- including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications -- directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a traditional virtual machine or dual-boot setup. It is a Microsoft product, developed, maintained and documented by Microsoft. You can find their documentation [here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/).

WSL can be installed from the Microsoft Store.

## Ubuntu and WSL

While Microsoft provides the virtual machine, the kernel, and a few more utilities; Ubuntu provides the distribution that runs on top of them. 
We develop multiple flavours of Ubuntu for WSL, which you can read more about [here](reference/distributions.md). These flavours materialise as applications on the Microsoft Store.


```{toctree}
:hidden:
:titlesonly:

self
tutorials/index
guides/index
reference/index
```