--- title: I ditched my Linux VM for WSL, and Windows suddenly... description: A hands-on account of switching from a Linux VM to WSL 2 for Windows-based development. WSL 2 offers quick setup without hypervisor complexity, dynamic... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-linux-vm-for-wsl-and-windows-suddenly-became-a-legitimate-development-environment-l7czwjty7 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I ditched my Linux VM for WSL, and Windows suddenly became a legitimate development environment | daily.dev og:description: A hands-on account of switching from a Linux VM to WSL 2 for Windows-based development. WSL 2 offers quick setup without hypervisor complexity, dynamic... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-linux-vm-for-wsl-and-windows-suddenly-became-a-legitimate-development-environment-l7czwjty7 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/l7CZwJty7.png og:image:alt: I ditched my Linux VM for WSL, and Windows suddenly became a legitimate development environment og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I ditched my Linux VM for WSL, and Windows suddenly became a legitimate development environment **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 6 min read · 3 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary A hands-on account of switching from a Linux VM to WSL 2 for Windows-based development. WSL 2 offers quick setup without hypervisor complexity, dynamic resource allocation, near-native NVMe speeds, automatic Nvidia GPU passthrough for CUDA workloads, and cross-platform tool access. The author ran a full Paperless-ngx stack with Docker and a local Ollama LLM inside WSL, finding it lighter and more integrated than a Type 2 VM. WSLg also enables GUI apps without a desktop environment. The conclusion: WSL is the best way to run Linux on Windows unless bare-metal kernel access is needed. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Does WSL 2 support GPU passthrough for running local LLMs with CUDA? Yes, WSL 2 automatically recognizes and enables an Nvidia RTX graphics card without extra configuration, allowing CUDA-based local LLM workloads to run with good performance. This was used to power a Paperless AI tool with an Ollama-hosted local LLM inside a WSL Ubuntu machine, avoiding the overhead typical of Type 2 hypervisor virtual machines. _Developers pairing local LLMs with Linux tooling on Windows can find setup experiences like this through daily.dev._ ### Can WSL run Linux GUI applications without installing a desktop environment? Yes, WSLg lets WSL 2 launch Linux graphical applications directly, such as the Disks utility for disk mounting or RealVNC for remote access, without installing a full desktop environment. This keeps the WSL machine lightweight while still supporting GUI tools when needed, unlike a traditional VM setup where a desktop environment is required for any graphical application. _Anyone weighing WSL against a full Linux VM for GUI tooling can track setups like this on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@rywils** · 0 upvotes > Gross. I would never let Windows touch my system. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [I stopped dual-booting Linux after discovering Windows' hidden kernel](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-dual-booting-linux-after-discovering-windows-hidden-kernel-6ez7mibux) · XDA Developers · 12 upvotes · 10 comments - [I tested dual-boot, WSL2, and VMs to run Linux apps on Windows, and only one was worth keeping](https://daily.dev/posts/i-tested-dual-boot-wsl2-and-vms-to-run-linux-apps-on-windows-and-only-one-was-worth-keeping-lbn6fosyk) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [I ran Linux for two years without actually understanding it, and WSL2 made that possible](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ran-linux-for-two-years-without-actually-understanding-it-and-wsl2-made-that-possible-c1kaguilg) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Windows is quietly becoming the easiest way to run Linux containers, and I don't know how to feel about it](https://daily.dev/posts/windows-is-quietly-becoming-the-easiest-way-to-run-linux-containers-and-i-don-t-know-how-to-feel-ab-iczv4vrzy) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Dual-booting Windows and Linux stopped making sense once my hardware got good enough](https://daily.dev/posts/dual-booting-windows-and-linux-stopped-making-sense-once-my-hardware-got-good-enough-2bknbhka3) · XDA Developers · 27 upvotes · 11 comments --- Tags: [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#infrastructure](https://daily.dev/tags/infrastructure), [#docker](https://daily.dev/tags/docker) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-linux-vm-for-wsl-and-windows-suddenly-became-a-legitimate-development-environment-l7czwjty7) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I ditched my Linux VM for WSL, and Windows suddenly became a legitimate development environment","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-linux-vm-for-wsl-and-windows-suddenly-became-a-legitimate-development-environment-l7czwjty7","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-linux-vm-for-wsl-and-windows-suddenly-became-a-legitimate-development-environment-l7czwjty7"},"datePublished":"2026-06-16T21:35:48.813Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T18:47:28.570Z","description":"A hands-on account of switching from a Linux VM to WSL 2 for Windows-based development. 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I would never let Windows touch my system.","datePublished":"2026-06-19T21:41:06.658Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/l7CZwJty7#c-6FgL6INqW","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Wilson","url":"https://daily.dev/rywils","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/42699070?v=4"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-ditched-my-linux-vm-for-wsl-and-windows-suddenly-became-a-legitimate-development-environment-l7czwjty7#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Does WSL 2 support GPU passthrough for running local LLMs with CUDA?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, WSL 2 automatically recognizes and enables an Nvidia RTX graphics card without extra configuration, allowing CUDA-based local LLM workloads to run with good performance. This was used to power a Paperless AI tool with an Ollama-hosted local LLM inside a WSL Ubuntu machine, avoiding the overhead typical of Type 2 hypervisor virtual machines. 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