I cannot find latest binaries file(.exe file) of BusyBox

Eli Schwartz eschwartz at archlinux.org
Thu May 2 15:29:54 UTC 2019


On 5/2/19 2:55 AM, Mattias Schlenker wrote:
> Did someone package a static binary (musl) of BusyBox for WSL yet?
> 
> New builds of Win 10 allow for the import of a "backup" of a linux
> system atop of WSL from a tarball. This would be a great way of
> initially distributing busybox for WSL without using the Windows store.

That doesn't seem especially related to the thread topic, but I'll bite:

Why does a specific application need to be "distributed for WSL without
using the Windows store"? Surely, if you are using WSL, you are using
some form of Linux distro in WSL, and that distro probably provides a
busybox package. Usually statically linked (with musl).

If the user has a WSL setup, and wants to run busybox in it but does not
want to rely on distro versions, then there is already "the" official
prebuilt busybox binary here:
https://www.busybox.net/downloads/binaries/1.30.0-i686/busybox

It's not distributed specifically for WSL, because it doesn't need to be
-- WSL does not require special things, that is the whole point of WSL,
to run native Linux executables. Just download it and use it directly in
your registered WSL distribution.

As far as distributing for Linux goes...

It is not built with musl either, but that is because it is built with
uclibc. I think the true goal is probably "static binaries", though, not
"static binaries using a specific technology".

If it was built with dynamically linked glibc, though, would it really
matter? busybox has no external dependencies other than, if dynlinked, a
couple of standard support libraries (libc, libm, libresolv, libcrypt),
so it should still work everywhere that has a more recent version of
glibc than its build environment (and people who build redistributable
binaries usually use the oldest glibc they can lay hands on, for exactly
this reason).

While there are definitely reasons to prefer static linking (and glibc
sucks for that) I don't believe "distribution for a modern non-embedded
Linux distro running in the Microsoft WSL emulator" is one of them.

tl;dr There are many good options.

-- 
Eli Schwartz
Arch Linux Bug Wrangler and Trusted User

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