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updated wsl2 page - comparison table
Signed-off-by: bidi47 <bidi@apidemia.com>
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‎public/wsl2.md‎

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@@ -27,18 +27,20 @@ Terminal -> WSL 2 -> AlmaLinux -> Ansible -> Ready.
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## Comparison with Popular Stacks
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Here is a direct comparison between WSL2, XAMPP, Laragon, DDEV, and Docker to help you choose the best development environment for your workflow.
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| Feature | WSL2 | XAMPP | Laragon | DDEV | Docker |
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|---------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| **Primary Use Case** | Running a real Linux environment on Windows via a managed VM. | Quick all-in-one Apache/MariaDB/PHP/Perl stack for local development. | Fast, portable PHP/Node development stack on Windows. | Per-project PHP/CMS (and Node.js) development environments built on Docker. | General-purpose containerization for any tech stack. |
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| **Core Architecture** | Real Linux kernel in a lightweight utility VM; distros run as isolated containers inside it. | Native executables run as host processes (optionally as services). | Portable native Windows binaries; doesn't use Windows Services. | Orchestration layer that generates and runs Docker containers per project, plus a shared router. | Containers sharing the host kernel on Linux; on Windows/macOS, Docker Desktop runs the engine inside a Linux VM (WSL2/Hyper-V or Apple Virtualization). |
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| **Depends On** | Windows virtualization support. | Nothing. | Nothing. | A Docker provider (Docker CE, Docker Desktop, OrbStack, Rancher, etc.); on Windows, usually WSL2. | Native on Linux; WSL2 or Hyper-V on Windows; a VM on macOS. |
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| **OS Support** | Windows 10 (1903+, build 18362+), Windows 11, Windows Server. | Windows and Linux (PHP up to 8.2.12); macOS build lags (PHP up to 8.2.4); XAMPP-VM unsupported on Apple Silicon. | Windows only. | macOS, Windows (WSL2 or traditional), Linux, GitHub Codespaces. | Windows, macOS, Linux. |
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| **Resource Usage** | Low to Medium (small footprint at idle; memory grows dynamically, capped by default at a share of host RAM). | Low (runs directly on host processes). | Very Low (lightweight, no background services). | Medium to High (Docker overhead plus several containers per project; varies by provider). | Low on native Linux; Medium to High with Docker Desktop's VM. |
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| **Environment Isolation** | Partial (separate Linux filesystem and kernel, but deliberately integrated with Windows files, networking, and executables). | None (shared global install, ports, and PHP version). | Self-contained install, no per-project isolation (projects share services and the active PHP version). | Container-level per project (own web and DB containers), with a shared router on ports 80/443. | Container-level (process, filesystem, and network namespaces; shared kernel, so weaker than a VM). |
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| **Production Parity** | Depends on what you install (it's a Linux OS, not a stack). | Low (Windows paths and config differ from production; vendor states it's not for production). | Low (Windows paths differ from Linux servers). | High if versions are matched (standardized Linux containers, not your production images). | High; identical only if the exact same image is deployed to production. |
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| **License / Cost** | Free (part of Windows). | Free, open source. | Laragon 6 free; versions 7+ require a paid license. | Free, open source. | Docker Engine free and open source; Docker Desktop requires a paid subscription for larger businesses. |
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Here is a direct comparison between the Dotkernel WSL2 stack, XAMPP, Laragon, DDEV, and Docker to help you choose the best development environment for your workflow.
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| Feature | Dotkernel WSL2 (AlmaLinux 10) | XAMPP | Laragon | DDEV | Docker |
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|---------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| **Primary Use Case** | RHEL-compatible PHP stack on Windows, provisioned by one Ansible playbook. | Quick all-in-one Apache/MariaDB/PHP/Perl stack for local development. | Fast, portable PHP/Node development stack on Windows. | Per-project PHP/CMS (and Node.js) development environments built on Docker. | General-purpose containerization for any tech stack. |
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| **Core Architecture** | AlmaLinux 10 running in WSL 2's lightweight utility VM (real Linux kernel), or directly on bare metal. Services run natively inside the distro. | Native executables run as host processes (optionally as services). | Portable native Windows binaries; doesn't use Windows Services. | Orchestration layer that generates and runs Docker containers per project, plus a shared router. | Containers sharing the host kernel on Linux; on Windows/macOS, Docker Desktop runs the engine inside a Linux VM (WSL2/Hyper-V or Apple Virtualization). |
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| **Depends On** | Windows virtualization support (WSL 2); nothing extra on bare AlmaLinux 10. | Nothing. | Nothing. | A Docker provider (Docker CE, Docker Desktop, OrbStack, Rancher, etc.); on Windows, usually WSL2. | Native on Linux; WSL2 or Hyper-V on Windows; a VM on macOS. |
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| **OS Support** | Windows 10 1903+ (x64) or 2004+ (ARM64), Windows 11, Windows Server 2022/2025; bare-metal AlmaLinux 10. | Windows and Linux (PHP up to 8.2.12); macOS build lags (PHP up to 8.2.4). | Windows only. | macOS, Windows (WSL2 or traditional), Linux, GitHub Codespaces. | Windows, macOS, Linux. |
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| **Resource Usage** | Low to Medium (small idle footprint; WSL 2 memory grows dynamically, capped by default at a share of host RAM). | Low (runs directly on host processes). | Very Low (lightweight, no background services). | Medium to High (Docker overhead plus several containers per project; varies by provider). | Low on native Linux; Medium to High with Docker Desktop's VM. |
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| **Environment Isolation** | Separate Linux filesystem and kernel from Windows; projects share one Apache/PHP/MariaDB install, each with its own `*.localhost` virtualhost. | None (shared global install, ports, and PHP version). | Self-contained install, no per-project isolation (projects share services and the active PHP version). | Container-level per project (own web and DB containers), with a shared router on ports 80/443. | Container-level (process, filesystem, and network namespaces; shared kernel, so weaker than a VM). |
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| **Production Parity** | High for RHEL-family servers (same `dnf`, `systemd`, and package sources as AlmaLinux/Rocky/RHEL production); not image-identical. | Low (Windows paths and config differ from production; vendor states it's not for production). | Low (Windows paths differ from Linux servers). | High if versions are matched (standardized Linux containers, not your production images). | High; identical only if the exact same image is deployed to production. |
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| **PHP Version Switching** | `php81` … `php85` aliases (Remi modules). | One PHP version per install; switching means a different installer. | Switch between installed PHP versions from the menu. | Per-project `php_version` in config. | Per image / per container. |
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| **Default Versions** | PHP 8.5, MariaDB 12.3 LTS, Node.js 24. | PHP 8.2.12, MariaDB 10.4.32 (Windows build). | User-selectable. | Configurable per project. | Defined by the image. |
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| **License / Cost** | Free, open source (MIT). | Free, open source. | Laragon 6 free; 7+ free for non-commercial use (with license reminders), paid license for commercial use. | Free, open source. | Docker Engine free and open source; Docker Desktop requires a paid subscription for orgs with 250+ employees or $10M+ revenue. |
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## The same OS family your servers run
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