How do y'all deal with programs not supported on Linux?

I’ve been seeing all these posts about Linux lately, and looking at them, I can honestly see the appeal. I’d love having so much autonomy over the OS I use, and customize it however I like, even having so many options to choose from when it comes to distros. The only thing holding me back, however, is incompatibility issues. A lot of programs I work with very often are Windows-exclusive, and alternatives supporting Linux are rare. So I guess I’m stuck with Windows, since I deem those particular programs really important.

Any advice from Linux nerds here? All constructive replies are very appreciated.

KISSmyOS,

If you need Windows-specific programs, you need Windows.
However, “need” is an overused term. Think about what tasks you want to accomplish, not what software you want to use.

Linux has software available for all tasks a computer can do. Some are sub-par and some aren’t widely used which makes professional collaboration impossible.
But for most tasks and most computer users, Linux-supporting software is perfectly fine and sometimes better than the Windows equivalent.

Theoriginalthon,

If you have to use a program that is windows only you have to use windows. I could move our entire company over to Linux if it wasn’t for SOLIDWORKS been windows only.

Wine can be an option but I’ve found it very hit and miss on some of the more obscure windows only programs

In the past I’ve used virtual box (virtual machine) in seamless mode, so it looks just like a window in Linux. I can’t remember why I stopped, I think it was down to licencing and oracle buying it.

bdonvr,

Wine/Proton can run a huge amount of Windows programs.

Honestly though I’ve just been using Linux for 8 or so years now and just find some other solution. For general computing it really isn’t hard at all. Perhaps if you have some weird proprietary work software or absolutely need Adobe it could be an issue

TCB13,
@TCB13@lemmy.world avatar

Wine/Proton can run a huge amount of Windows programs.

Except for everything that people usually want such as the latest MS Office. Or that nice program developed for Windows 98 that works flawlessly under Windows 11 and it totally broken under Wine.

alt,

A lot of programs I work with very often are Windows-exclusive, and alternatives supporting Linux are rare.

Consider mentioning the programs you work with. On a general note, Wine can be used to make Windows-software work on Linux. Bottles can be used to that effect as a front-end. Furthermore, for a more sophisticated solution; consider taking a look at CodeWeavers.

Arthur_Leywin,

Virtual machine or Bottles. If neither can help then I just take the L

theRealBassist,

What are bottles?

Arthur_Leywin,

It’s a thing that’s built on top of wine (Windows application compatibility thingy). Its purpose is to create environments for Windows applications in a very user-friendly manner with a GUI. I think whatever you can do in Bottles, someone could do with the terminal using wine but that’s difficult.

Haven’t used Bottles in a while but you just get the .exe file like you would when using Windows OS, then you put it in the Bottles, and it should run. I have no clue about the details, but if you click enough buttons, it should work properly.

TwinTusks,

A question regarding bottles, do I have to install dependencies in the settings? My exe all installed without error but can’t open.

Arthur_Leywin,

Not sure. I guess it depends on the software you’re trying to use. Watcha downloading? Maybe I can try it on my end.

TwinTusks, (edited )

I am just testing things out, so I’m trying to install Kindle Previewer and Caesium image compressor. All install correctly, but crash upon execute.

This is the error for Kindle Previewer


<span style="color:#323232;">18:13:06 (INFO) Catalog installers loaded 
</span><span style="color:#323232;">18:13:06 (INFO) Catalog dependencies loaded 
</span><span style="color:#323232;">18:13:06 (INFO) Catalog components loaded 
</span><span style="color:#323232;">18:13:09 (INFO) Launching an executable… 
</span><span style="color:#323232;">18:13:09 (WARNING) Windows path detected. Avoiding validation. 
</span><span style="color:#323232;">18:13:09 (INFO) Using Wine Starter -- run 
</span><span style="color:#323232;">wineserver: using server-side synchronization.
</span><span style="color:#323232;">wine: RLIMIT_NICE is &lt;= 20, unable to use setpriority safely
</span><span style="color:#323232;">002c:err:wineboot:process_run_key Error running cmd L"C:\windows\system32\winemenubuilder.exe -r" (2).
</span><span style="color:#323232;">0118:err:ntlm:ntlm_LsaApInitializePackage no NTLM support, expect problems
</span>
Arthur_Leywin, (edited )

I’m having issues too. I’d just use a VM at that point xD. With Bottles it’s usually hit or miss but with a VM, almost anything works. Sorry friend🤧

Edit: my virtual machine manager of choice is GNOME Boxes because it’s very easy to use. If it doesn’t work it usually means KVM or SVM (one of them) is disabled in your BIOS.

TwinTusks,

NP, I guess I’ll just have to accept it (I only use it to convert ebooks to KFX format, it seems a bit overkill to have VM Windows just for that.)

Thank you for trying to help.

AlecSadler,

For Visual Studio Enterprise, Adobe PDF editing, native Office apps, SSMS, and RDP thin clients, I use a Windows VM.

niisyth,

For occasional use of a Windows specific software, how feasible is it to keep a VM handy? Not too much of a drag or a bit of a hassle.

Been on the edge of turning the main OS to linux on the gaming rig.

AlecSadler,

I have a 2TB SSD and a 1TB SSD. My Windows VM is allocated 100GB, so it really isn’t bad at all. I use VirtualBox and it starts up basically instantly.

I just realized I have an oldish laptop with Windows on it though so I’m thinking maybe I should just remote into that instead…derp

HubertManne,
@HubertManne@kbin.social avatar

Ill do my usual name drop of zorin os linux distro. its maine thing is windows compatibility and comes with play on linux and wine preinstalled and setup. Also comes with many linux applications installed out of box. I think its the best shot for an easy move over but if it does not work that does not mean it can't be done but its gonna be a bit of work more than likely.

princessnorah,
@princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

CrossOver is also made by CodeWeavers, but includes paid support as well. Maybe it might suit your use case?

www.codeweavers.com/crossover

Steamymoomilk,

Does anyone know how well this actually works? Ive been fighting with fusion 360 to work on linux. Yes i know about bottles and it works okish but it lags alot.

princessnorah,
@princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Are you looking to run games, or other software? ProtonDB has details of what games do and don’t work using it. Proton is also maintained by CodeWeavers, I think it’s basically the gaming support from CrossOver.

calzone_gigante,

My advice is segregatting work and personal environment, your company’s computer isn’t safe for general usage.

About stuff you use for yourself, don’t focus on which program you want to use, but on the task you must accomplish, most software that is made to mimic a Windows workflow are not great, sometimes you think you need a msword alternative, but you just need to create a document, there’s many ways to manipulate documents on linux that are so much better than text processors like word or libre/wps/only, and you will miss it by straight up looking for alternatives.

On Window’s software are usually bound by a lot a comercial bullshit, they have to bloat to be able to be forever at development and pushing new versions, Linux usually follows into Unix philosophy, aiming for small high quality software that are easy to compose into a bigger workflow, even when not using cli tools that operate on text streams, a gui linux application usually work with standard formats, don’t try to overlap features and are easy to replace if needed.

And about transition, i like the dual boot approach, have a linux partition, and use it for what you can do better on linux when you want to, as you get better with linux, you will be wanting to use window’s less and less.

0xtero,

Sometimes customers want me to use a specific piece of software so I have a QEMU Windows installation I use.

cosmic_slate,
@cosmic_slate@dmv.social avatar

You could always run Linux in a full screen VM. I do this from a Mac so I get some flexibility.

Alternatively, run Windows in a VM on Linux.

JackGreenEarth,

Are they like proprietary business programs? What programs can’t run on Linux even though WINE?

Lettuceeatlettuce,
@Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml avatar

I personally only use Linux now for all my computers. I follow a philosophy for any software solutiom I need that goes like this:

  1. Use a FOSS solution or,
  2. Use a proprietary solution that has a native Linux build/browser version or,
  3. Use a cracked/pirated version in Wine/Windows VM.

Personally, I am absolutely committed to no more Windows for my personal computing, I have been for years. That means that if I cannot do one of those three options in that order, I don’t use that software/solution.

Unless you are doing a lot of specialized software work, those three options should have you covered. I’m curious what software you use that doesn’t work with any of those 3 categories.

Advanced CAD/CAM stuff there isn’t much in FOSS. Same with specialized Audio production work and advanced photo-manipulation. Specialized device support can be spotty too, but that varies wildly. Those are the only software categories off the top of my head that I know don’t really have good FOSS solutions.

Presi300,
@Presi300@lemmy.world avatar

All the programs I use just run on linux, no really. VSCode runs on linux, I’ve used libre office for longer than I’ve used Linux (and it obviously runs on linux), all my faves run on linux through steam or lutris.

However, if there is a windows only program you wanna run on linux, you have a few options.

I’d just cross running it though wine out, it’s really annoying to setup and my original success rate with it had been… Not great.

If your program isn’t terribly graphically demanding, you might be able to run it via a windows virtual machine. It’s not perfect but for lighter programs or visual studio, it works.

If your program is graphically demanding (e.g. Adobe suite, CorelDraw, Autocad, etc…) you’re kinda out of luck and will have to dual boot… (Or loose your sanity trying to get them working through wine)

yukijoou,

to answer to question in the title, on top of what was already said: i just code them myself. of course, it doesn’t work for everything, but for simple programs, i can write a script or a proper thing that does the specific task i need!

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