WSL Development Environment: Installing Essential Packages on Debian

Introduction

When building a development environment on WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), it is important to install the necessary basic packages.
In this article, I will explain in detail the essential basic packages required for a Debian environment on WSL.

I also provide a script to install these basic packages all at once.
By using this script, you can reduce the time and effort spent on program installation and environment configuration, allowing you to focus more on development.

Key Terms

Here are the key terms used in this article.

• WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux):
  A platform that allows you to run a Linux environment on Windows.

• APT:
  A tool widely used in Debian-based distributions to manage the installation, updating, and removal of software packages.

1. What is a Package?

1.1 Package Basics

A package bundles software and configuration files together to make their management and distribution more efficient.
Packages allow for automatic dependency resolution and bulk updates.
When you install a specific package, related packages are installed automatically, so you don't need to install everything manually.

1.2 Packages and Package Managers

To manage packages, we use software called a package manager.

A package manager is a tool that simplifies and streamlines software management, such as installing, updating, and removing these packages.

2. Packages to Install

2.1 Package List

I have listed the packages to be installed and the reasons for their selection by category.

Archivers

An archiver is a tool that compresses and stores files and directories into a single file. This makes file management and data distribution easier.

Package Name	Description	Reason for Selection
zip	Creating and extracting ZIP format archive files	Essential because it is widely used for extracting files distributed on the web
7zip	Creating and extracting 7z format archive files	A format characterized by high compression rates, which is effective for data transfer

File Download

These provide the functionality to download files from the internet to your PC.

Package Name	Description	Reason for Selection
curl	Downloading files from the web	Used in one-liners for executing web-based installers
wget	Downloading files from the web	Used when saving files locally

Development Tools

This is a collection of tools used in general programming, such as version control and Make.

Package Name	Description	Reason for Selection
vim	Text editor	A powerful and versatile text editor widely used for programming
make	Build automation tool	A standard build tool
git	Version control system	The standard tool for code management
gawk	Interpreter for the AWK language	AWK is widely used in UNIX/Linux scripting

Utilities

Package Name	Description	Reason for Selection
binutils	Binary file manipulation utilities	Used for commands provided by the package in scripts
file	Identifies the type of a specified file	Used for the file command in scripts
tree	Displays directory trees	Used when creating Zenn entries
man	Displays man pages	The man command is standard for the OS

2.2 How to Install Packages

The following script is for installing basic packages in bulk.
By using this script, you can install the necessary packages easily and quickly.
Follow the steps below to save and run the script.

1. Create a script file installscripts.sh.

2. Save the script
   Copy and paste the following script and save it to the script file.

   installscripts.sh

   #!/usr/bin/env bash
   pkgs="
    zip
    7zip
    curl
    wget
    vim
    make
    git
    gawk
    binutils
    file
    tree
    man
    "
   
    for p in $pkgs; do
      sudo /usr/bin/apt install -y $p
    done
   
   

3. Execute the script
   Run the installation script with the following command:

   . ./installscripts.sh
   

By following the steps above, you can install basic packages all at once.

Conclusion

In this article, I introduced the essential packages used when building a development environment on Debian on WSL.
Let's build an efficient development environment on WSL by utilizing the tools introduced in this article.

Happy Hacking!

References

Websites

• Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
  URL: https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/
  Description: Official FAQ providing frequently asked questions and answers about Debian.

• Debian Package Management Tools
  URL: https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-faq/pkgtools.ja.html
  Description: Official information and documentation about the package management system used in Debian.

• APT - Wikipedia
  URL: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/APT
  Description: Detailed information about APT, the package management tool used in Debian-based Linux distributions.

• What is the Windows Subsystem for Linux?
  URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/ja-jp/windows/wsl/about
  Description: Official information about WSL provided by Microsoft.