WinApps doesn't use a Docker backend btw, you can use any Windows machine running anywhere - cloud, physical, container etc. All you need is the IP address of the box once it's set up.
This looks great though. +1 choosing Qt instead of Electron. -1 for Python though. Otherwise, your approach ticks most of my boxes.
One feature I'd like to see though is reverse file associations - basically associate Linux filetypes inside the Windows VM so that any file you open in a Windows app would open the file in Linux, assuming Linux has a file association for it. Say I've installed Directory Opus in the VM and I want to use it as my primary file manager in Linux, and say I double-click on a .xml file, I would like to open it in the Linux app associated with that filetype (which would be Kate in my case).
Right, I had WinApps pinned to dockur in that comparison and missed the IP-based flexibility part. That's an actual difference, will fix the README.
On Python: fair pushback. Picked it for stdlib coverage (zero runtime deps on 3.11+, one tomli fallback for 3.9/3.10) and iteration speed. Heavy lifting is in the container and FreeRDP so perf hasn't been the bottleneck, but yeah the language choice is a tradeoff.
Reverse file association is interesting, hadn't thought about that direction. The v0.3.0 agent could probably handle it but I'd want to look at the security model first. Marking it TBD. If you open an issue with the use case that'd help me scope it.
I'm fine with the language, I just don't like its dependency ecosystem. I don't mind using it for quick-and-dirty single-file scripts, but once a python project reaches a certain level of complexity, you start relying on external libraries and before you know it, you now have to maintain this messy behemoth of a project with a gazillion dependencies, breakages and potential vulnerabilities up the chain... just thinking about it gives me a headache.
Python has nothing on the sprawl of nodejs packages.
It is a fair criticism and some languages do fare better than others. Python is kind of in the middle there in my opinion. It's pretty easy to keep a relatively simple dependency graph with a little bit of discipline.
yeah.. I also agreed with that. so I'll optimize the code continuously and lower the dependency on python. but for now I'll keep it because of some benefits.
How does the responsiveness of the application compare between the OCI winpodx approach and a VM based winapps approach?
The OCI approach should mean that resources are not ringfenced and held separate from the host, which would be beneficial for applications run on the host. A winapps approach using a VM that is run on the host would constrain the host while the VM is running, which the VM would need to be to make sure the windows app is "always available".
Is there a noticeable performance benefit to using winpodx compared to winapps? How does the idle resource usage compare too?
For now single container runs all softwares. tradeoff with dockur/windows limits, saves ram and disk. planning multi container later for better isolation.
Might be harsh to say but not bothering to fix the spacing in the ai generated ascii diagram tells me how much i should be taking this project seriously.
Yes, looking at their profile it does look that way for all their contributions on HN. Ctrl+F "real" and Ctrl+F "genuine" as one quick indicator--AI absolutely loves these adjectives and their forms right now.
Is Grammarly considered AI or not? I use Grammarly heavily because I use speech recognition in a stream of consciousness mode. It catches misrecognitions and language where I thought the right word but said a different one.
The below is the above once through Grammarly and a couple of written-by-me substitutions.
Is Grammarly considered AI or not? I use Grammarly heavily because I use Aqua speech recognition in a stream-of-consciousness mode. It catches misrecognitions and language where I thought the right word but said the wrong one.
It’s the reaction of the audience that matters, not what happened on your device that nobody can see.
If the writing ends up being the same as what you would produce if you carefully edited it yourself, it will be well received. If it shows any signs of being machine-generated rather than human-authored, the audience will sense it and react negatively.
We advise against copy+pasting any generated text into HN. If you think there’s some fuzziness around the definition of “generated”, well, see what happens.
WinApps doesn't use a Docker backend btw, you can use any Windows machine running anywhere - cloud, physical, container etc. All you need is the IP address of the box once it's set up.
This looks great though. +1 choosing Qt instead of Electron. -1 for Python though. Otherwise, your approach ticks most of my boxes.
One feature I'd like to see though is reverse file associations - basically associate Linux filetypes inside the Windows VM so that any file you open in a Windows app would open the file in Linux, assuming Linux has a file association for it. Say I've installed Directory Opus in the VM and I want to use it as my primary file manager in Linux, and say I double-click on a .xml file, I would like to open it in the Linux app associated with that filetype (which would be Kate in my case).
Right, I had WinApps pinned to dockur in that comparison and missed the IP-based flexibility part. That's an actual difference, will fix the README.
On Python: fair pushback. Picked it for stdlib coverage (zero runtime deps on 3.11+, one tomli fallback for 3.9/3.10) and iteration speed. Heavy lifting is in the container and FreeRDP so perf hasn't been the bottleneck, but yeah the language choice is a tradeoff.
Reverse file association is interesting, hadn't thought about that direction. The v0.3.0 agent could probably handle it but I'd want to look at the security model first. Marking it TBD. If you open an issue with the use case that'd help me scope it.
What's wrong with python for this use case?
I'm fine with the language, I just don't like its dependency ecosystem. I don't mind using it for quick-and-dirty single-file scripts, but once a python project reaches a certain level of complexity, you start relying on external libraries and before you know it, you now have to maintain this messy behemoth of a project with a gazillion dependencies, breakages and potential vulnerabilities up the chain... just thinking about it gives me a headache.
Doesn't this apply to every language? You always will rely on external libraries once a project reaches a certain level.
Python has nothing on the sprawl of nodejs packages.
It is a fair criticism and some languages do fare better than others. Python is kind of in the middle there in my opinion. It's pretty easy to keep a relatively simple dependency graph with a little bit of discipline.
Certainly not those where you need to reimplement everything yourself, at least ;)
yeah.. I also agreed with that. so I'll optimize the code continuously and lower the dependency on python. but for now I'll keep it because of some benefits.
Is it intended that readers initially read "windpox" (as I did)? I hope so. That'd be funny.
How does the responsiveness of the application compare between the OCI winpodx approach and a VM based winapps approach?
The OCI approach should mean that resources are not ringfenced and held separate from the host, which would be beneficial for applications run on the host. A winapps approach using a VM that is run on the host would constrain the host while the VM is running, which the VM would need to be to make sure the windows app is "always available".
Is there a noticeable performance benefit to using winpodx compared to winapps? How does the idle resource usage compare too?
Does this mean that each software you run is now the size of a windows install + sw or is it a single container that runs all your softwares ?
For now single container runs all softwares. tradeoff with dockur/windows limits, saves ram and disk. planning multi container later for better isolation.
Demo? Video? That's the first thing I want to see.
Fair point. Working on it now — will push a screenshot and short clip soon.
So, Linux subsystem for Windows?
yeah from user side it feels like that. but technically its more like extremely user-friendly way of using VMs.
Since this is a UI forwarder to a Windows machine, I don't think so?
Well, WSL GUI apps are just a forwarder to a Linux VM in the Hyper-V hypervisor.
WSL2 is. The first WSL wasn't though, was it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Subsystem_for_Linux
> allows the use of a Linux environment from within Windows, foregoing the overhead of a virtual machine and being an alternative to dual booting.
WSL2 isn't a Windows subsystem by definition as far as I can tell.
Interesting!
> GPU passthrough via VFIO is a manual bring-your-own setup — not yet packaged.
Can we take this to mean that GPU passthrough is planned? This would be huge especially for running Adobe/Canva software.
Just at the planning stage, needs careful consideration first.
Might be harsh to say but not bothering to fix the spacing in the ai generated ascii diagram tells me how much i should be taking this project seriously.
That's my mistake. I just focused on the functionally working, so I missed that point.
Let's hope nobody teaches "AI" how to use aalib to generate cool looking renderings of things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAlib
Every reply by OP sounds like AI.
Yes, looking at their profile it does look that way for all their contributions on HN. Ctrl+F "real" and Ctrl+F "genuine" as one quick indicator--AI absolutely loves these adjectives and their forms right now.
The Korean intent is mine, but I run it through an LLM to phrase in English. That's where the pattern comes from. Will skip the LLM step from here.
It's against the guidelines to do this. The community much prefers you write in your own voice, even if your English is imperfect.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Output from speech recognition, (Aqua).
Is Grammarly considered AI or not? I use Grammarly heavily because I use speech recognition in a stream of consciousness mode. It catches misrecognitions and language where I thought the right word but said a different one.
The below is the above once through Grammarly and a couple of written-by-me substitutions.
Is Grammarly considered AI or not? I use Grammarly heavily because I use Aqua speech recognition in a stream-of-consciousness mode. It catches misrecognitions and language where I thought the right word but said the wrong one.
It’s the reaction of the audience that matters, not what happened on your device that nobody can see.
If the writing ends up being the same as what you would produce if you carefully edited it yourself, it will be well received. If it shows any signs of being machine-generated rather than human-authored, the audience will sense it and react negatively.
We advise against copy+pasting any generated text into HN. If you think there’s some fuzziness around the definition of “generated”, well, see what happens.
God it, i ll follow the guidelines, Thanks for the pointer. Apologies..
I use both of these and I don't think I've once had an LLM rewrite my comment before posting it on HN.
And "fair"
Terse sentences? This is how I naturally write and think out loud and I assure you I'm not an LLM
Fair hit, though I'd like to push back slightly
On Mac, you can select a text you write, right click > Writing tools, which uses AI to rewrite and proofread.
Fair, English isn't my first language and I've been leaning on tooling. I'll dial it back.
English-as-a-second language is very much welcome here--your grammar/spelling do not need to be perfect. Just try your best.
Thanks for your opinion, i ll try my best!
This is nice!!
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