I am probably one of a huge number of people so fed up with M$oft that they are considering moving to Linux. In my case, the start of my disenchantment is that they pulled the rug from millions of developers (including me) who used their brilliant RAD, Visual Basic 6, replacing it with a totally different system, familiarly known as 'dot.net'.

There are many other reasons that I won't bore you with, including security issues.

Now, I have some programs that will not run on Linux, including exe files and vb6. I know I need to run them within Wine. My first question is: When running Windows within Wine, (1) Is it still open to security hacks? (2) Open to incessant Windows nags (re patches, and for that matter W10)?

for using Microsoft's Visual basic
install a microsoft OS

there is the regular NON Microsoft ONLY " BASIC"
and bash shell scripting
and python and perl and go and ......


Wine will run ? most ? windows programs
some well some barley and some do not run at all

yes wine can run Microsoft viruses and other nasties


also you do NOT run win10 through wine

wine IS the emulator

it makes a psudo windows environment to install windows programs on

Hi...

I don't believe you can run Windows in WINE, you would need to use a VM like VirtualBox. In terms of security, yes, from what I see here, Windows would still be open to malware and other security threats, so you would need to take the necessary precautions.

And while I'm not completely sure, I'm guessing that you would still face at least some, if not all of, the nags present in a regular Windows install, especially security updates. Perhaps other members who run Windows in a VM can tell you more.

Regards...

OK Looks like Linux is out for me then because I have written many programs in vb6 that lead to compiled exe files, including all my accounts and various other programs financial and document handling utilities. I still need to run those. Pity. Linux sounded very hopeful.

wine will run SOME vb6 code
i had a almost antique program that used vb6 ( 98/xp era)

check the winehq website and the database
https://www.winehq.org/

and database of SOME software
https://appdb.winehq.org/

you might have to hack the wine version of the windows system regestry for some things
you have used "regedit.exe" in the past ? right?


keep in mind that Visual Basic is a MICROSOFT ONLY!!! version of basic
and it is NOT the same a BASIC
BASIC will run on linux

For the record, you won't be able to run much of your vb6 code on newer Microsoft OS either. VB6 support was discontinued by Microsoft in 2008 and current windows don't include support for vb6 programs.

Well, actually that's not quite right. Most vb6 stuff *does* run on W10, including the IDE (I've tried it). But there's always a chance they will cripple it at some future time, which is another reason why I don't trust them.

Micro$oft has proven to be worthy of our mistrust, repeatedly.

They profit greatly by obsoleting their products and forcing their loyal customers to migrate to their new obsolete stuff.

So as you say, it is really just a matter of time.

If you are hitting a wall with them either way, you will need to migrate to their new requirements or migrate to something else. If it must be rewritten, have it rewritten into something that will not force your hand in future. If the code itself will not run on W10 or Linux, then the function can be reproduced and the existing data can be transformed. At least that way, once you are free you can remain free.

And just in case you think that you are an "old guy" among kids, you might find comfort in this fairly recent poll, Age Of LQ Members Using Slackware. Linux, Slackware in particular, is an elixer of life! Never too late!

Good luck!

Beautifully put. And such a pity. Basic vb6 was a brilliant product. I would not have minded paying annually for such a marvellous program (provided I knew up front).

I don't believe OP actually wants to run windows within WINE, rather run the specific vb6 programs they wrote and the exe they have.
To that extent this may be useful

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManag...ersion&iId=130

A search on the subject

OP should just try them in WINE though. It tends to be a hit or miss. If it depends on a lot of external windows specific stuff, its chances of working goes down though..

Good luck OP, I would suggest learning a more "free" language if it's feasible . If only to protect yourself from that feeling of knowledge being obsoleted.


Hopefully you will put more time into linux as opposed to a windows alternative and it's touted "virus-free" name. There's a lot more good to it . If it was only better at protecting against viruses, I wouldn't be continuing to use it!

Unfortunately, VB6 is "very tied" to the environment that (was) being sold by the vendor who created it. I'm not readily aware of any project that has attempted to clone it.

I entirely share your sentiments about it versus "dot-Net," in much the same way that I "rolled my eyes and gave up on" the Java language as it started (IMHO) "recklessly bouncing down the hall-of-mirrors" that it today seems to regard as sacrosanct.

But, I'm not aware of anyone who has tried to port it.

... including "the one company who could have at anytime done this most easily": Microsoft.

Microsoft has excellent cross-platform compilers, and from time to time has built complementary "supporting frameworks" for products that they seriously wanted to put into some other (non-Windows) environment. But they abandoned VB when "dot-Net" came along. They never ported it. And, so far as I know, neither has anyone else.

Yes, I feel the same way about persistent Java updates, for example.

Isn't this one of the things that the "XP Mode" VM provided with Enterprise editions of Windows is for?

I repeat that all my vb6 programs, and the IDE, *do* run on W10, but I would not trust them for the future.

"XP mode" runs a 32-bit environment.