Wine Success Stories
I've had a bit too much Wine recently. Not the hard kind, but the soft(ware) kind. I'm talking about the Wine project, a great piece of software that allows a user to run Windows program natively on Linux. The name Wine is a recursive acronym that stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator. The reason for the name is to emphasize the fact that Wine does not 'emulate' Windows, but provides a translation layer instead. This means that instead of re-writing the Windows functionality (API) in Linux, Wine simply translate a regular Windows function into a regular Linux function. Thus, a Windows application running in Wine thinks it's running in Windows, however, whenever it asks Windows to perform a task, the request is processed by Linux. From the perspective of Linux, Wine is just another program that runs in memory. Linux will receive request from Wine, and execute them normally, not knowing that it comes from a Windows application.
Wine is also available for other operating system like the Mac.
In the past week alone, for different reasons, I ended up going back to Wine. Normally, I prefer to run native Linux applications. For example, I use OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office, GIMP instead of PhotoShop and Eclipse instead of Visual Studio. Typically, an application written specifically for Linux will 'feel' natural and better integrate itself with my desktop. This is important since Linux is not Windows, Since there are things I can do in Linux that I can't do in Windows, I want to be able to take advantage of that!
I don't mind paying for a piece of software if I feel it's worthwhile. For example, I purchased a license for Mandriva Linux, Cedega and MyEclipse, even though they are mostly free software. I use free software because it is free as in free speech, not because it's free as in free beer. However, most of my money usually goes towards games.
Sure, I have a Wii and a PlayStation 2, and I enjoy both greatly. However, there are too many great games for the PC to ignore that market. Though many great games are available for Linux, like Doom 3, Unreal Tournament and Neverwinter Nights, many are not.
One such game is Morrowind. I shudder to think how many hours I wasted on that game. It's one of the main reasons I purchased Cedega in the first place. Cedega is a product based heavily on Wine that concentrates on providing as seamless an experience for running Windows games on Linux.
My loving wife is currently on maternity leave, taking care of Mr. George Henri. She selflessly invests much of the time taking care of the kid. But I don't want her to get overly bored. So, what is a husband to do to keep a wife busy? Buy her computer games, of course!
Wine is also available for other operating system like the Mac.
In the past week alone, for different reasons, I ended up going back to Wine. Normally, I prefer to run native Linux applications. For example, I use OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office, GIMP instead of PhotoShop and Eclipse instead of Visual Studio. Typically, an application written specifically for Linux will 'feel' natural and better integrate itself with my desktop. This is important since Linux is not Windows, Since there are things I can do in Linux that I can't do in Windows, I want to be able to take advantage of that!
I don't mind paying for a piece of software if I feel it's worthwhile. For example, I purchased a license for Mandriva Linux, Cedega and MyEclipse, even though they are mostly free software. I use free software because it is free as in free speech, not because it's free as in free beer. However, most of my money usually goes towards games.
Sure, I have a Wii and a PlayStation 2, and I enjoy both greatly. However, there are too many great games for the PC to ignore that market. Though many great games are available for Linux, like Doom 3, Unreal Tournament and Neverwinter Nights, many are not.
One such game is Morrowind. I shudder to think how many hours I wasted on that game. It's one of the main reasons I purchased Cedega in the first place. Cedega is a product based heavily on Wine that concentrates on providing as seamless an experience for running Windows games on Linux.
My loving wife is currently on maternity leave, taking care of Mr. George Henri. She selflessly invests much of the time taking care of the kid. But I don't want her to get overly bored. So, what is a husband to do to keep a wife busy? Buy her computer games, of course!
Labels: game, linux, mac, open source, wine
posted by J-F Bilodeau at
9:28 AM
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