[CoLoCo] Ubuntu feature question

Thu Sep 10 23:42:00 BST 2009

Yes, basically there are three options available. I will add my input to
each.

1. Search for an equivalent open-source replacement. This one in my opinion
is the best option if an equivalent exists. For example i have found GIMP
and Inkscape to suit my needs just fine for a Photoshop and Illustrator
equivalent. And OpenOffice fits my needs fine for a word processing program.

2. Try out WINE. Wine is a compatibility layer (similar to an emulator)
which is capable of running most [simple] windows programs. It does not work
very well with more advanced windows programs like Solidworks however.

3. Virtual Machine. This is your best option if you cant find an open-source

equivalent. There are a few good ones out there that cost money that
probably would work good. My favourite is VitualBox. I have only ever tried
the full version downloaded directly from the virtualbox website, but in
every instance it has worked very well when installing windowsxp.

I myself have no need for windows anymore though. So i no longer run
virtualbox or WINE.

-Andrew

On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 9:11 AM, Kevin Fries <kfries at cctus.com> wrote:

> I agree with everything that Ian says, but would like to add on to that.
>
> Sometimes programs are written in a very sloppy way.  This practice is
> common in the Windows arena.  Many of these programs to not have a Linux
> equivalent (heck, if a programmer does not follow Microsoft's lax rules,
> what makes you think they would follow Linux's must stricter ones), and do
> not work correctly in Wine (can anybody say Visio... I knew you could).  For
> those programs I generally run VirtualBox from Sun Microsystems.  VBox has
> some very neat features.  One is called seamless mode that allows the
> Windows VM to run without the window.  So, you get the Windows toolbar at
> the bottom of the screen, without the rest of the desktop.  As an example,
> this allows you to go "Start->Programs->My Badly written app" and have it
> run in a window on the screen along side all your Linux apps.  You can also
> configure VBox to use a directory on your Linux host, as a file share within
> you Windows guest.  Again, an example.  I create a folder in my home
> directory called ~/winfiles.  I then use the VBox console to say I want that
> shared with my Windows VM.  Next I run the windows vm and map the share to
> the L:.  Now anything stored in L: from a windows app, shows up in a folder
> in my home directory.  I do not share my home directory directly because I
> do not want bug or virus issues that Windows is so ripe with, to effect my
> well running Ubuntu desktop.  The last feature that I really like is that
> VBox allows you to run a VM directly from the command line.  I know, I know,
> your a Windows guy and say, "but I don't want to use the command line".  But
> hold on, if I can run it from the command line, I can also create a launcher
> on the Gnome desktop, and launch Windows, only when needed from a double
> click of an icon.  A Windows instance that runs in seemless mode, and shares
> files with my Linux host.
>
> My recommendation is to use the full version from Sun despite not being
> "open" as its features are much better than the ODE version that comes in
> the Ubuntu repositories.   To do that is really easy.
>  $ sudo -i
>  # echo 'deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian jaunty
> non-free' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list
>  # chmod 644 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list
>  # wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc-O- | apt-key add -
>  # apt-get update
>  # sudo apt-get install virtualbox-3.0
>  # exit
>
> That should do it.
>
> (NOTE: be very careful running these commands, you spend time as root, and
> can do damage to your system.  Here is an explanation of the above commands.
>  First become root.  You want this file to be root owned, plus only root can
> write to the directory required as a security measure.   The second command
> adds the appropriate repository location to a file in the config directory.
>  Then we insure that only root can write to the file, but anyone can look at
> it.  Next, we add the key so that apt can verify packages are from the
> legitimate sources.  Once the config changes are done, you can add the new
> packages to the catalog of packages by doing an update [alternatively, you
> can go into Synaptic to do this and the next command].  After the packages
> have been refreshed, you should be able to install the latest version of
> VBox.  Finally, and I can not say this strongly enough... GET OUT OF ROOT
> MODE!!!)
>
> And, coming from the Windows world, this may be foreign to you... But
> VirtualBox is free for personal use. :-D
>
> Enjoy
>
> Kevin Fries
> Senior Linux Engineer
> Computer and Communications Technology, Inc
> A division of Japan Communications Inc
> (303) 708-9228 x326
> ________________________________________
> From: ubuntu-us-co-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com [
> ubuntu-us-co-bounces at lists.ubuntu.com] On Behalf Of Chomafin [
> chomafin at gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:47 AM
> To: Ubuntu Colorado Local Community Team
> Subject: Re: [CoLoCo] Ubuntu feature question
>
> Hello,
> Ubuntu, like most any distribution, supports wine which is an emulated
> windows environment. Find out more about it at
> http://www.winehq.org/about/ or
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_%28software%29.  You can view the
> growing list of supported applications at http://appdb.winehq.org/. Keep
> in mind, for a lot of windows applications, there may be a *nix alternative
> already that runs native within Ubuntu.
>
> Hope this helps.
> - Ian
>
> On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 12:53 PM, Farjam Majd <farjam_majd at yahoo.com
> <mailto:farjam_majd at yahoo.com>> wrote:
> I don't know if this is the right email, and sorry if I am spamming u.  I
> am new to linux and am doing some basic research about it.   does ubuntu
> support, (e.g., via VM or emulation or ...) exisiting windows programs? any
> such options available?  Plz let me know or point me to the right resources.
>
> -thx,farjam
>
>
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