I really enjoy Linux but I find myself having to keep Windows partitions around for software that specifically requires Windows.
Proton makes everything easier by automatically running game files through a translation layer, and it “just works” quite well most of the time.
Also VanillaOS can apparently auto-spin a container when you try to open a .deb or AUR package (this is my rudimentary understanding).
Setting up WINE/Bottles, etc. is above my pay grade.
Is it not possible to create an OS that just does the same thing as Steam but for the entire OS?
You should be able to configure any desktop environment to open exe files with Wine or a frontend of your choice. By default Wine installs everything to ~/.wine and adds an entry to your applications.
Linux users have a habit of saying “Sure! you can just…” without ever elaborating on how ridiculously complicated it is or the level of knowledge required. Is it so hard to configure the OS to just do it out of the box? And if not, why has no one done this?
Well, my experience has always been that when I double click an exe that I get either asked which program should be used to open it or Wine gets used automatically. Which is more or less the same thing Windows does with different file types.
So, are you just here to bitch and moan or do you want to try it out?
Oh, this is the part where I get bitched out by the Linux user for having the gall to ask for helpful advice. So predictable.
Wow you’re a real cunt lmao.
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As others pointed out already, most distros will ask you which program you want to use on a file the first time you double click on them, and you can tell it to always use the same program for all other similar files (just like windows btw)…the only difference with windows (regarding exe files) is that you need to have wine installed first (lots of distros have it preinstalled though). You can still do it later by right clicking (again, just the same as windows). I fail to see what’s so complex about that.
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You cant have the same expectation with Wine regarding any windows software vs Proton for games, games and softwares can be awfully different, that’s why Wine can be a pain to use, and why it sometimes needs more fiddling for some soft than Proton does with games. Also some soft wont work on Wine period. Some softs will work just as simply as games on proton, some absolutely wont.
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I am sure you are aware that windows softs are made for windows, so it is a bit odd to expect a different OS to handle exe files perfectly and make it an out of the box experience, it was never made for that. I have yet to see anyone complain about not being able to run any Apple exclusive app on windows, sure Linux has Wine and Proton, and that’s cool… but some people don’t use it. So yeah it won’t be smooth and yeah it can get complicated, yet it’s still better than nothing don’t you think ?
I think all this should answer your post and your comment. Sorry if it sounds like I am scolding you, but to be plain your post is asking why an apple can’t be an orange.
If you need any help with something and don’t want unconstructive or vague answers it’s better to be specific about your issues and to consider that one problem with an exe file (or anything really) won’t be solved the same way as another. And if you don’t get something just say it instead of accusing anyone offering advice of being cryptic or unhelpful snobs, you won’t get far if you annoy everyone…just saying ;)
Wine doesn’t work. I don’t know why.
I am sure you are aware that windows softs are made for windows
I don’t even know what “softs” are.
it is a bit odd to expect a different OS to handle exe files perfectly
I don’t. And I didn’t imply that I did. I’m just asking a question.
Regarding Wine not working, if you feel overwhelmed with that and really need help, just make another post or edit this one and specify :
- what Linux distro you are using
- what windows software you’d like to run on Linux
- what it is you are trying and failing to do exactly (as precisely as you can, you might get even better answers that way)
Otherwise you will get chaotic and vague answers that might not even apply to you. But frankly, some softwares you might still need windows for them, or you could find an alternative (if you can, if it exists alternativeto.net is your friend in that regard). It really depends on what you are using.
Also I get it can be bothersome to deal with and frustrating, but mostly this kind of stuff you configure it once and then it’s done. So it might still be worth it.
Regarding Wine not working, if you feel overwhelmed with that and really need help, just make another post or edit this one and specify :
I don’t work in product support at WINE. If it doesn’t work, I’m just not going to use it. I assume there is some sort of OS config that needs to happen but even looking at the support material it’s nothing but a bunch of jargon I don’t understand and terminal commands that don’t work.
If that’s your attitude, then I don’t think this is going to work out.
Wine is not a company. People building and fixing Wine to support a specific piece of software are largely volunteers. Noone works at Wine. Noone does product support. It’s a free service created by volunteers.
That’s how most Linux software gets built. And none of these people owe you anything. No support, no easy to use config.
Frankly, you sound incredibly entitled and unwilling to listen and learn to everyone here who’s tried to help you.
To answer your original question: there’s no one global way to make Wine run all software out of the box. That’s why Valve spends so much time tuning different setups of Wine for all the games they support. CodeWeavers to some extent does that for non game software.
Doing this for the wide variety of Windows software out there is an impossibly large task and frankly out of scope for what most Linux distributions have as a goal or intended use case. If you want to run Windows software on Linux, there are many different projects that try to package or help you install the most popular things. But other than that, you’re free to try on your own.
Wine is not a company.
Yes I am aware.
Noone works at Wine.
So WINE was just imagined into existence? Or maybe it was a wizard with a magic spell?
And none of these people owe you anything.
Why do people get so uppity when I simply ask questions? I never claimed that anyone owed me anything. I never asked for anything.
Frankly, you sound incredibly entitled
That is literally nothing but personal projection.
and unwilling to listen and learn to everyone here who’s tried to help you.
I am unwilling to learn. I’ve wasted hundreds of hours trying to learn to use Linux for basic tasks after everyone assured me it was “so easy” and not gotten anywhere. I’m done trying to learn.
there’s no one global way to make Wine run all software out of the box.
Someone posted Zorin OS elsewhere, which appears to be exactly what I asked for.
¯_(ツ)_/¯ Well if you say so… Good luck !
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I very much agree with that first sentence. I think they forget how much they know at a baseline, and can’t skip that when talking to a copy-paste idiot like me.
Linux in general doesn’t have any defined purpose, so the whole Archlinux mentality only really exists in that one distro. It’s a little unfair to confuse (for example) Mint and Tiny Core.
In Debian and, probably, Ubuntu you may install the
wine-binfmtpackage to get all*.exes running with wine automatically. However I don’t recommend doing so because it is very easy to run some windows trojan with this.
I have to add, please use Bottles Flatpak (or something similar) to run .exe files in an isolated environment.
Bottles has very secure presets and a fully modern stack with Pipewire and Portals. Running .exes there is probably safe.
But starting to run random Windows apps unisolated on your system will open a huge can of worms. Especially with quacked games ;D
I just downloaded a .exe then “open with bottles” and…nothing happened 🤷
As I said this is not very good behavior, some .exe files may install a program first and then it may create a desktop entry, by default this windows link will only be accessible from within the app library but you can export it. Linux uses .desktop entries, running .exe files is not how you do it.
Did you already create a bottle? If not do so, use “programs” or whatever you want to run.
pupgui is needed if you want games, install latest proton GE and use that instead with a “Games” bottle.
Then if you have any bottle created, close the app again and try to open that .exe again with bottles.
Things to consider that I have the feeling you might not know
- bottles has a really well made flatpak, this is the only supported version
- flatpak apps have an internal app storage (pupgui flatpak can write there to install the wine engines)
- even if not in flatpak (which you should 100% use, wine is a security hole), WINE will create a fake Windows directory structure and place the .exe there
- so running an .exe is completely different from an appimage (which you should not use unless you need to). This app will likely depend on Windows libraries so it needs to be installed i.e. placed in that WINE directory structure
I don’t know what any of that means 🤷
As I mentioned in the OP, I have games installed on a separate machine and they work fine with Steam/Proton. Just click “Play” and they go. This is the functionality I’m looking for.
Several other people claimed this is how it works.
How do you have them installed? I have no experience with proton.
If you didnt understand things ask good questions or use your favourite search engine ;D
How do you have them installed?
I click the “install” button on Steam.
If you didnt understand things ask good questions or use your favourite search engine
I’m really just not interested in obtaining a software engineering degree. But thanks.
I have no idea of coding, this is just about using software.
Yeah idk this may be a steam specific thing so use it with steam I guess?
I tried. No luck.
No you need some integration for sure. You could create a custom desktop entry, launching that .exe file with custom parameters. Or create or find a filemanager extension.
Simply that .exe files are often installers, bottles installs them, finds the launch links and converts them to desktop entries.
This is they way this is done. Stop using stuff the windows way, it simply doesnt work well.
Is it possible to create an OS that simply automatically runs .exe files through WINE/Proton/Bottles?
Zorin already does that out-of-the-box. See: https://help.zorin.com/docs/apps-games/windows-app-support/#run-apps-in-exe-and-msi-files
And if you want to take it to the next level, there’s ReactOS, which is basically an opensource reverse-engineered Windows - but sadly it’s development is slow and it’s hardware support is extremely lacking. But it exists, and does qualify as an answer to your question. For all practical purposes though, Zorin is what you’re looking for.
Wubuntu? https://wubuntu.org/
A little too close for comfort 😬
Sure, when linux loads are process it follows a standard procedure to see how to run the file. If the file has ELF markers it runs the process via the ELF loader. If the file has #! as the first then it uses a different process to run that script. (I doubt a.out executable format is supported anymore, but that at least used to be an option). There is no reason you cannot hack this process to detect windows executable and then use wine to load/run the application. I’m not sure why nobody has done this, but the basic things have been supported in linux for decades.
You don’t need to hack anything, you can use Binfmt_misc to tell the kernel how to load windows binaries
I doubt a.out executable format is supported anymore, but that at least used to be an option
is that why when i compile c programs the default name is a.out?
Sorta, the file might not be in the a.out format anymore but the name has stuck around.
honestly, wine has seemed unreasonably complex to me in the past and i haven’t tried since. but Bottles offers a nice easy to use GUI, i do recommend giving it a shot. at least on arch linux it’s super easy to install via the AUR.
the only issue is some apps need additional dependencies which can take some searching to figure out what exactly is needed. the arch wiki lists a bunch of them though, and often the error messages bottles shows will point you the right way.
i’ve gotten almost every .exe to work with it, most immediately, some after a short bit of tinkering.
that said, i did end up finding open source alternatives for all the software i use often, and don’t use bottles much.
I’ve yet to find something open-source that scratches what MusicBee can do, and it’s got major performance, usability and visual problems when running through WINE that have been reported.
It’s why I keep a Windows VM around.
The bottles flatpak is the official release so people not on an arch based system can/should use that
Even people on Arch should use it. It ensures better isolation of processes and is the only supported installation method if you ever have issues.
i do recommend giving it a shot.
I did.
I have the opposite problem, llavafiles (a large language model, packages as a single files) can run on both Linux and Windows. They are written to be compatible with both.
But when I ./file to run it, eine is started automatically!
(The llava file GitHub has a workaround, but still by default it chooses wine for some reason)
What are you trying to achieve?
I feel like I was pretty explicit in what I was trying to achieve
Maybe I’m not fully understanding then. Maybe your looking for an application like bottles?
Along with the other suggestions here, Garuda also already does this out-of-the-box.
Just install WineHQ
In my understanding you can run .exe with double click if you install wine and choose it to open any .exe as default, if you have DXVK with wine like fedora do and if the program have all the dependencies in the .wine folder things probably will work.
I think that the magic that happens with Proton is just a hell lot of people debugging and pushing fixes to Proton/Proton-GE and so on for multiples games.
Hijaking the post to ask another thing related to Proton, do Proton uses the binaries of the bin folder most games have? Like the multiples .NET runtimes? Or the windows still need to have it so the game can detect it as installed?