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Ask About Running Windows Software in Linux

Posted by Roblimo on from the bridge-over-troubled-waters dept.

There have been recent reports about programs from Israel, Canada, and The Philippines that let you run Windows software in Linux. Are they really new? Can they succeed? Is this whole effort worth the time and trouble going into it? CodeWeavers CEO and Wine maven Jeremy White ought to know, since he's been working to bring Windows software to Linux users for many years -- with quite a bit of success. We'll forward 10 - 12 of the highest moderated questions posted here to Jeremy, and run his answers as soon as we get them back.

7 of 456 comments (clear)

  1. Paradox? by FortKnox · · Score: 5, Funny

    How easy is it for you to sleep at night knowing your job is dependant on Linux succeeding, yet MS software staying popular? You are living in a paradox of a job!

    (This is supposed to be a joke, not to insult the guys)

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    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
  2. worm compatibility? by kaufi · · Score: 4, Funny

    will there ever be the possibility to run the famous windows worms and virii in linux?

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  3. Re:Challenges by penguinoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    So far, WINE has appeared to be mostly focused on games.

    I have heard it said, "Windows is only good for playing games". Does that explain anything?

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  4. Re:Is Windows binary compatibility a good thing? by koali · · Score: 3, Funny

    HOWEVER. I for one think Linux has a long way to go before it can be used be Joe and Jane CompUSA customer. Simple things are missing from many distros that end up requireing extensive work to add. Untill the end user dosn't need to mess around in the kernel code it will not be acceptable. For example.

    I'm building a PPTP server, which should be simple.

    Wait a minute, you're telling me that Joe and Jane from CompUSA want to build a PPTP server. I'll give you good news: with Linux they can even run a beowulf cluster of those...

  5. Viral Licensing Question by KlomDark · · Score: 4, Funny

    Aren't you worried that you'll corrupt Linux with the viral Windows licensing scheme?

  6. WINE will succeed... by ceswiedler · · Score: 3, Funny

    WINE will have truly succeeded, not when everyone switches from Windows to Linux, but when software developers begin to:

    1. Code their Windows apps in a way which makes it easy to run them on WINE
    2. test / support WINE as a platform

    If this happens, XAML and all future Microsoft dominance is doomed. What we will end up with is the common set of easy, sensible Win32 APIs usable across multiple implementations, and the crufty, proprietary, unnecessary crap being ignored.

    Doesn't anyone remember the other proprietary OS this happened to?

  7. Yes by ChiralSoftware · · Score: 3, Funny
    It is possible. They could create a virus/worm section in the appdb, but I'm guessing that doesn't fit with the image they're going for.

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