Hello! I am Hayden Barnes. I am an open source partner manager, community builder, developer relations professional, and experienced engineering manager. Currently Senior Open Source Partner Manager at HeroDevs, where I lead Never-Ending Support (NES) for .NET and do other interesting thing.
I am a six-time Microsoft MVP (2020–2025) with a focus on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and cross-platform/cross-architecture development, and an Arm Ambassador.
Previously:
- Founded Whitewater Foundry - created Pengwin, the first bespoke Linux distro optimized for WSL, featured in the Windows Terminal demo at Microsoft Build 2019 and covered by ZDNet and The Register
- Developer Advocate and Engineering Manager for Ubuntu on WSL at Canonical - grew Ubuntu on WSL from 40k to 100k weekly installs
- Senior Engineering Manager at Rancher Labs (now SUSE) - Windows containers on RKE2, documentation, DevOps, IBM Z coordination
- Community Lead for open source AI/ML at Determined AI / HPE - organized ML-at-Scale community conferences and a hackathon with 800+ registrants
- A lawyer (yes, really - JD from the University of Baltimore, and still admitted to practice)
I am passionate about:
- Sustainable open source
- Cross-platform/cross-architecture development
- Windows Subsystem for Linux
- Old UNIX
I also:
- Blog about WSL, .NET, Linux, and cross-platform development
- Write about .NET security, CVE research, and open source sustainability at HeroDevs
- Write books - author of Pro Windows Subsystem for Linux (Apress)
- Speak at conferences
- Founded and organized WSLConf - the first community conference dedicated to WSL
- Previously co-hosted the Linux Downtime podcast
- Appear on podcasts and streams about Linux, open source, and .NET
- Lead the WSL Community Telegram
- Contribute to open source projects across the ecosystem
At HeroDevs, I lead .NET Never-Ending Support (NES), providing long-term security patches for end-of-life .NET versions.
| Repository | Description | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| awesome-wsl | Awesome list dedicated to Windows Subsystem for Linux |  |
| awesome-unix | All the UNIX and UNIX-Like: Linux, BSD, macOS, Illumos, 9front, and more |  |
| Repository | Description | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| ghcopilot-taskbar-gui | WinUI 3 system tray app for GitHub Copilot with automatic context awareness |  |
| CVE-2025-55315-repro | Tool that reproduces CVE-2025-55315 in ASP.NET Core (Kestrel) |  |
| secure-case-notes | HIPAA-compliant mental health case notes with local AI (Sherpa-ONNX + Phi-3) | |
| bulkhead | Enterprise policy-aware container execution for .NET | |
| cleanup-mastodon | .NET terminal app to bulk-delete Mastodon posts before a date | |
| gnomeazureopenaichat | Azure OpenAI chat application with GTK/.NET |
I founded Whitewater Foundry and created Pengwin, the first custom Linux distribution built for WSL. Pengwin was featured in the Windows Terminal demo at Microsoft Build 2019. I later organized WSLConf, the first community conference dedicated to WSL. I also maintain the WSL Community Telegram.
I am a Contributor to microsoft/WSL, with the first community pull request merged into the project and engaged on 245+ issues.
| Repository | Description | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Pengwin | The first bespoke Linux distribution optimized for WSL (founder) |  |
| Fedora Remix for WSL | Fedora-based distribution for WSL (founder) |  |
| Pengwin Enterprise | Enterprise WSL distribution with RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux (founder) |  |
| wslinternals | A collection of nifty WSL-related utilities |  |
As an Arm Ambassador, I contribute to the Windows on Arm ecosystem with 15+ Arm-related PRs across projects including:
- Maintaining a fork of the GitHub Actions Runner with Windows Container support on both x64 and Arm
- Helping port Scoop, the Windows package manager, to Arm
- Arm build support for Pengwin and wslu RPM packages
- Docs and build clarifications for microsoft/onnxruntime-genai on Windows Arm
- Tracking Arm app readiness via is-windows-on-arm-ready
- Automating submission of GPTScript to WinGet and Scoop
- Contributing to CVE research and remediation for end-of-life .NET at HeroDevs — including reporting on CVE-2025-55315 (CVSS 9.9)
- Writing about .NET security, the .NET Foundation, and open source sustainability at HeroDevs
- Blogging about WSL internals, cross-platform .NET, and open source sustainability at boxofcables.dev
- Curating microsoft-opensource — a collection of Microsoft's open source project landscape
- Pro Windows Subsystem for Linux (Apress) - Author
- HeroDevs Joins the .NET Foundation to Secure and Grow the Open Source Ecosystem
- HeroDevs Joins .NET Security Group: Securing the Future of the .NET Ecosystem
- Critical ASP.NET Vulnerability CVE-2025-55315 Reported: Upgrade Now
- A Practical Decision-Maker's Guide to Responding to CVE-2025-55315
- FAQ About CVE-2025-55315: The 9.9 Rated CVE in ASP.NET Core
- Microsoft Build (2019, 2021–2026)
- WSLConf (Founder & Organizer)
- Microsoft Ignite
- KubeCon NA
- Supercomputing
- MLSys
- ICML
- NeurIPS
| Show | Episode | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Hanselminutes | #994, Apr 2025 | Neverending support for open source |
| The Modern .NET Show | S08E07 | .NET NES & a new approach to open source maintenance |
| The Modern .NET Show | S08E07B | CVE-2025-33515 & .NET security |
| Everyday Heroes | S1E2, Jan 2025 | The Butterfly Effect: from law to Linux legend |
| Linux Downtime | Co-host | Linux, open source, and the industry |
| LINUX Unplugged | #345, Mar 2020 | Behind the scenes of WSLConf |
| LINUX Unplugged | #332, Dec 2019 | The WSL Secrets |
| LINUX Unplugged | #268, Sep 2018 | 268: Elementary, My Dear Plasma |
| Destination Linux | #158 | Ubuntu on WSL at Canonical |
| Level1Techs | Interview | Windows Subsystem for Linux deep dive |
| Coder Radio | #353 | A Week with WSL |
| The Mike Dominick Show | Episode 19 | Ubuntu WSL |
| Landing In Tech | #7 | From lawyer to engineering manager at Canonical |
| The Weekly Squeak | Polly Pengwin Pod | Pengwin and WSL |
| Coffee & Open Source | Sep 2020 | WSL, Pengwin, and open source community |
