Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

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webfork
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Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

#1 Post by webfork »

If you're using a non-Windows system and miss your favorite software, there's a quick and easy way. In fact portable software here on the site is much more likely to work under Wine than other types of software. Although I've already done some work with Crossover, that's a non-freeware solution on a freeware site.

How to Enable Wine + portable software in Ubuntu v.10.10 (no command-line necessary)

Audience note: Users familiar with Linux should have no need for this howto as the process has gotten fairly intuitive. I put together this howto for novice users and with a few tips for integrating apps smoothly into the OS.
  1. Click "Applications" from the top bar and select "Ubuntu Software Center"
  2. Type "Wine" into the search box at the top to quickly get to the available packages
  3. Click "install" on the "Wine Microsoft Windows Compatibility Layer". (Ignore the "dummy package".)

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  4. Once installed, click on your applications menu and click "Browse C:\ Drive"
  5. Once there, copy over your portable collection. For this example, we'll use "C:\portable programs"
  6. Due to settings that have given Linux a reputation for security, you have to enable "executable" capability. Right-click on the "C:\portable programs" folder, choose "properties", and then click the "Permissions" tab. Check the box next to "Execute" (you may need to click it more than once) until it has a check mark inside it. Note: if you add more software later, you will need to do this step again.
  7. Click "Apply Permissions to Enclosed Files" and Close


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  8. Linux doesn't work with EXE files, so when it sees one, it will try to decompress any EXE just like a regular ZIP file. To change this, open the folder and find a program you'd like to run from your collection. Right-click a program and choose "Properties" then the "Open With" tab. Choose "Wine Windows Program Loader" and select close. You only need to do this once and the system will treat all EXE files this way.

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  9. Double-click a program you'd like to run. Portable software launcher Pstart worked great for me and launched other portable software seamlessly. The tiny gray launcher icon sits beautifully at the top of the screen.

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Most portable software seems to work fine and compatibility is improving all the time. PortableApps has so far gotten positive results and has been adding notes to its entries about Linux+Wine compatibility.

Feedback welcome. If anyone's interested, I can post more on integrating Windows apps into Ubuntu.
Last edited by webfork on Fri Jan 22, 2016 10:17 am, edited 2 times in total.

donald
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Re: Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

#2 Post by donald »

Have you tested any Puppy Linux distro with WINE?

I would appreciate any results you may have.

One example of Puppy with WINE would be Lighthouse Pup

Thanks.

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webfork
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Re: Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

#3 Post by webfork »

donald wrote:Have you tested any Puppy Linux distro with WINE?
I've had mixed results getting Puppy linux working effectively under my VM, but good experiences as a system testing tool.
donald wrote:One example of Puppy with WINE would be Lighthouse Pup
If I go back towards Puppy, I will test that distro.

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guinness
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Re: Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

#4 Post by guinness »

Thanks webfork for instilling a vote of confidence that I should be able to run my portable programs using Linux.

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webfork
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Re: Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

#5 Post by webfork »

guinness wrote:Thanks webfork for instilling a vote of confidence that I should be able to run my portable programs using Linux.
Thanks. Although this site is Windows-only, part of my desire to participate here is that its actively promoting software that works just fine on non-Windows systems. By virtue of promoting a self-contained, portable design, we're appealing to a much broader group.

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m^(2)
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Re: Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

#6 Post by m^(2) »

webfork wrote:
guinness wrote:Thanks webfork for instilling a vote of confidence that I should be able to run my portable programs using Linux.
Thanks. Although this site is Windows-only, part of my desire to participate here is that its actively promoting software that works just fine on non-Windows systems. By virtue of promoting a self-contained, portable design, we're appealing to a much broader group.
Thumbs up. I really like your motives. I too think there's too little portable (across various platforms) software and portability deserves more attention and promotion.

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Midas
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Re: Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux

#7 Post by Midas »

webfork wrote:[...] Although this site is Windows-only, part of my desire to participate here is that its actively promoting software that works just fine on non-Windows systems. By virtue of promoting a self-contained, portable design, we're appealing to a much broader group.
:idea: I'd vouch for that, too. Thanks for a useful tutorial.

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