msl

SwiftRust

WSL2-style Linux subsystem for Apple Silicon Macs

msl is a WSL2-style Linux subsystem for Apple Silicon Macs, with feature parity to WSL2 and beyond, leveraging macOS's Virtualization.framework, FSKit, and LaunchAgent to provide a seamless Linux experience on macOS.

~34k LOC

Swift + Rust

Guest crates

macOS 26+ · Apple Silicon

Target

github ↗

Highlights

01A near instant launching Linux shell

02One Kernel supporting multiple Linux distros

03Shared localhost, and Finder access to Linux filesystems

04Interop between Mac and Linux, including executing macOS binaries on Linux.

05Linux GUI apps appear as real macOS host windows, with popups, Retina scaling, drag and drop, and virtual desktop support

Ubuntu running through msl in a macOS Terminal window — Ubuntu 24.04 running through msl: native arm64 Linux userland, shared Mac project path, and daemon-backed shell.

full write-up in progress — detailed notes on this project are coming soon.