Get portable software working in Ubuntu Linux
Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:33 am
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.
Feedback welcome. If anyone's interested, I can post more on integrating Windows apps into Ubuntu.
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.
- Click "Applications" from the top bar and select "Ubuntu Software Center"
- Type "Wine" into the search box at the top to quickly get to the available packages
- Click "install" on the "Wine Microsoft Windows Compatibility Layer". (Ignore the "dummy package".)
- Once installed, click on your applications menu and click "Browse C:\ Drive"
- Once there, copy over your portable collection. For this example, we'll use "C:\portable programs"
- 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.
- Click "Apply Permissions to Enclosed Files" and Close
- 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.
- 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.
Feedback welcome. If anyone's interested, I can post more on integrating Windows apps into Ubuntu.