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WINE
Even though there are plenty of apps and games made for Linux, there are probably some Windows applications or games that you would like to use on Linux. This can be achieved using Wine.
Wine is a free and open-source compatibility layer that allows Windows applications to run on Linux and stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator," which means that it doesn't emulate the Windows operating system, but instead translates Windows API calls into POSIX calls that can be executed on Linux. This allows users to run Windows applications on Linux without the need for a virtual machine or dual-boot setup.
Installing Wine
Wine can be installed from the Software Manager or by running some commands in
Terminal as shown here:
https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/Debian-Ubuntu.
Update 20-01-2025: with the release of Linux Mint 22.1 Xia, they recommend to install Wine using:
apt install wine-installer
"Among other things, this will install wine-desktop-files, which adds menu entries for regedit, your C:\ drive and other items which are missing from upstream WINE." source
I haven't tried this yet so I can't confirm if it will also install the 32-bit version needed by Steam, but if it works, the following steps can be skipped.
I will also describe the necessary steps here:
- Enable 32 bit architecture
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
-
Find your distribution name. Look for the line with either
UBUNTU_CODENAMEorVERSION_CODENAME. If both are present, use the name afterUBUNTU_CODENAME.
cat /etc/os-release
In my case I use Linux Mint 22, code name Wilma and the Ubuntu code
name is Noble.
- Download and add the repository key:
sudo mkdir -pm755 /etc/apt/keyrings sudo wget -O /etc/apt/keyrings/winehq-archive.key https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key
- Add the repository:
sudo wget -NP /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/dists/noble/winehq-noble.sources
- Update the package information:
sudo apt update
- Install the Wine stable branch. There is also the development and staging branches. The User's Guide explains the differences between the branches.
sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable
Mapping Linux drives to a letter in Wine Configuration
To access drives on Windows applications, you need to map them to drive
letters using Configure Wine. This can be launched by searching in
Start menu or typing winecfg in a Terminal. Shortcut for opening a
Terminal window is Ctrl + Alt + T and Alt + F4 to close it or
any window.
In the Drives tab add a letter and select the path where the drive is
mounted. I like to name the folders where the drives are mounted by using a
letter prefix so they show in the order I want in the file manager.
Windows applications that I use on Linux using Wine
Here is a list of Windows apps that I use on Linux. Is not a review just some
general description.
IrfanView
IrfanView is mainly
an image viewer but can do much more such as editing and batch convert.
Probably there are similar ones for Linux but I got used to IrfanView. I use
it to create images for my blog posts also. Just screenshot, paste the image
from clipboard, select an area, press Ctrl + Y to crop, and Ctrl + S to save.
Ctrl + U adjust the colors automatically. If you have a folder with images
that you want to resize or convert to other formats just open an image then
press B to bring the Batch convert. F12 bring the paint menu where I often use
the clone tool to erase some dust from scanned images.
GoodSync
GoodSync is a backup
and file synchronization program. It is used for synchronizing files between
two directories, either on one computer, or between a computer and another
storage device or between a computer and a remote computer or server. When
creating backup to a cloud server you have the option to encrypt the
destination folder to protect your privacy. There is a free version for Linux
but only command line.
For Linux there is
Syncthing, a free
alternative that also supports encryption, but I already had experience with
GoodSync and it worked well for many years so I didn't want to do the switch
and learn a new tool.
WinRAR
WinRAR is a trialware file archiver utility. It can create and view archives in RAR or ZIP file formats, and unpack numerous archive file formats. To enable the user to test the integrity of archives, WinRAR embeds CRC32 or BLAKE2 checksums for each file in each archive. WinRAR supports creating encrypted, multi-part and self-extracting archives.
I know about the free alternative
7-Zip but that doesn't
have the recovery record feature. I used to use 7z with PAR but it's easier
just using WinRAR considering it's not expensive and only one time payment.
MultiPar
MultiPar is a software that can create and check PAR2 files, which are used to repair corrupted or incomplete files. It supports CPU and GPU acceleration. I use this as a cheap alternative to RAID to check and repair file corruption. I create PAR files for everything: music collection, image albums.
Mp3Tag
Mp3tag is a powerful and easy-to-use tool to edit metadata of audio files.
Gaming on Linux
For Steam games, there is Steam for Linux. For other game sources a popular option is Lutris. All use Wine under the hood, the difference is how they configure wine. With Lutris you can have different settings for each game and different Wine versions since some games work better with older Wine versions apparently. Steam uses Proton that also is using Wine. Bunch of alcoholics.
If you want to check what games work on Proton there is this site:
https://www.protondb.com/.
Installing Steam on Linux
Steam can be installed using the Software Manager or by downloading the .deb
installer from their website:
https://store.steampowered.com/about/.
Steam compatibility settings
If you have games that have the Install button greyed out, make sure to "Enable Steam Play for all other titles" and set "Run other titles with" Proton Experimental or any other version.
Debugging Steam
Close Steam. Open the game from the Terminal using:
steam steam://run/13560
Replace the number with the game id found in game properties. This way in case
the game crashes or doesn't start you can look up online using what is
displayed on the Terminal.
Steam potential issues
The game starts then stops
This can happen if the folder c: cannot be created because the drive is NTFS formatted and ':' is not allowed.
Solution
- Look for a directory called "compatdata" under:
~/.steam/root/steamapps/compatdata
- Make a symbolic link from that folder to the identical location on the NTFS Steam Library:
sudo ln -s ~/.steam/root/steamapps/compatdata /media/STEAM LIBRARY IN NTFS DISK/steamapps/
But first remove steamapps on the destination if exists.
- And if still doesn't launch, change the file permission:
sudo chmod 777 ~/.steam/root/steamapps/compatdata
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