Open Source Developer Brings Linux to Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME

Source: Slashdot

Background

Microsoft introduced the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in 2016, providing an optional Linux environment for Windows 10 and later versions. An open‑source developer has now extended this concept to the legacy Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME platforms, running Linux kernel 6.19 alongside the Windows 9x kernel so that both operate simultaneously. The project is reported by the blog It’s FOSS.

Implementation Details

• A virtual device driver handles initialization, loads the Linux kernel from disk, and manages the event loop for page faults and syscalls.
• Because Win9x lacks the interrupt table support required for the standard Linux syscall interrupt, WSL9x reroutes those calls through the fault handler.
• A small 16‑bit DOS program named wsl.com pipes terminal output from Linux back to the MS‑DOS prompt window from which it was launched.

Compatibility and Performance

• WSL9x does not require hardware virtualization and can run on machines as old as the i486.
• The developer noted on Mastodon that the project was completed just before Linux removed 486 support:
  • Mastodon post
  • Slashdot article on Linux dropping 486 support

Availability and Licensing

• The source code is hosted at codeberg.org: https://codeberg.org/hails/wsl9x and is released under the GPL‑3 license.
• The developer proudly states that the project was written without AI assistance.