OK, I'm another of those longtime windows users who (just now, in fact) installed Linux. I'm running Red Hat 9 on a dual-boot system alongside Windows XP Pro, not that that should matter. I'm wondering how to install (or if I can install) a made-for-windows program/app from a cd in Linux.

For instance, I play lots of video games and online I met a fellow who ran linux and was playing Diablo II: LoD. This is what makes me think that games (if not all apps) can be installed on my linux partition to be run by RHlinux.

Although it's the procedure i'm interested in, for purposes of responding, how would I install say, Diablo I (i have the pc/mac version) on my Linux OS?

note: if unfamiliar with Diablo I, any information on how to run a made-for-windows CD is welcome, or if this is super-common knowledge, a link to a tutorial or FAQ would be appreciated and I apologize for the newbiness.

Thanks!

Lots of things to say.

First, redhat is almost 3 years old now, and i would definiately recommend you to upgrade to a newer distro(fedora is the new redhat)

Windows apps cannot be run in linux, what he was doing was running the program from wine, or more likely, winex(cedega) which is a windows emulator for linux. Cedega allows for the running of a lot of windows games in linux, but not all, and it can only run games, and it is not free. Wine can run some windows programs with varying success(actually, it is pretty low for most people), but it is free.

Most apps -> Wine
Games -> Cedega (formally known as WineX)

Note: Cedega isn't free, and not everything works with those to programs. If you can, try and find a port (or a clone) programmed specifically for Linux. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Liquidtenmillion - beat me to it

Hey, we're all newbies at one point or another =)

There's a Windows emulator, called WINE (WINdows Emulator) that you can use to run windows programs that do not require DirectX. DirectX development for it is currently being developed, but for now only simple games can be played, and I'm guessing Diablo is one of them.

www.winehq.com is the place you can download it from. Once you've installed it, go into the terminal, and get into the directory that the .EXE file is in (on your Linux OS):

cd [directory]

Then type "wine [EXE file name here]" without the quotes.

To run a CD, simply do the following:

1. Mount the CD drive (most likely already mounted; Check by trying to see the files on the CD in Linux)

2. Go into the terminal, and type in "nautilus --browser /media" without the quotes. This opens up the folder on the Linux OS that shows all the mounted devices.

3. Look for the name of the CD drive. Most likely something like Cdrom or Cdrom0. In the case of a CD reader/burner combo drive, it'll be called cdrecorder.

4. Close the Nautilus browser. In the terminal, type:
cd /media/[CDROM drive name here]

5. Type:
wine autorun.exe

#5 runs the program that would usually automatically run in Windows when the CD is inserted.

Hope it helps, sorry if it seems to complicated, but it's pretty easy to do =)

- NirJ

i thought wine stood for Wine Is Not an Emulator.

That would be quite an example of false advertising there..

I dunno, I heard it was WINdows Emulator, but I could be wrong.

Diablo II is supported by Cedega, click here

Another related question: instead of installing off of a cd, what about downloaded .exe files? Is there a reasonably accessible way to execute them? The one I'm working on at the moment is getting Ares, since Linux has built in media playback capabilities. I downloaded the one found at www.aresgalaxy.org/download.html and its a .exe file. How can I run it/is there a different version I have to look for?

Reply to the " First, redhat is almost 3 years old now, and i would definiately recommend you to upgrade to a newer distro(fedora is the new redhat)":

Distro I'm guessing means distribution. This was just the first one that landed in my lap, along with "Red Hat Linux 9 for Dummies" and "Linux for Dummies". The actual install disks came from my Computer Information Systems professor, who uses RH9 in a class he teaches.

I have a friend (better with computers than I am, but there's always someone out there who is) who ran Fedora Core for a while and eventually switched back to Windows XP pro (I got him a good deal on it ($20 U.S) through the CIS department). I don't think I can get the Fedora Core discs from him, however.

This leaves me with one option if I want to upgrade to Fedora Core (an idea i'm willing to execute): download it. Now, it looks good on paper, but in practice using windows to download another operating system and then trying to install it independently...... sounds like a real pain in the neck. I would definitely need some advice/explanation on the proper procedures/location(s) for the download and the install. Here are my system specs if that helps determine the distro right for me (I noticed RH9 didn't have some of my stuff listed; I have many generic drivers):
Athlon XP 2800
512 MB DDR RAM
80GB Maxtor HD
Gigabyte 7S748 Motherboard
Geforce 5700 LE Video Card w/256MB RAM
a standard CD-RW drive
(sadly, I forgot to put a floppy drive in and i'm a poor college student... this has caused no end of terror)

I downloaded WINE from the winehq link provided in this thread (I got the version for RedHat 9 for the athlon architecture) and when I tried to open the download I recieved this error message (except in a fancy window):

Package Not Found
The following package could not be found on your system. Installation cannot continue until it is installed.
Unlocatable package: glibc >= 2.3.2-27.9.7
Required by: WINE

During the install, I checked the box to install every package on the disks, so I doubt it can be found there. I guess this is about to become my first troubleshooting experience. Where can I find and how can I install this package?

I would recommend an upgrade. RH9 is quite outdated by now, Linux has been advancing *very* quickly for the past couple years.

For finding packages look [ here ] and [ here ] .

For upgrading, simply download the .iso files for the install cd's and burn them. Your hardware looks within the minimum requirements for most all distros.

And for what it's worth. From the winehq website:
Wine is more of a compatibility layer than an emulator.

I'm pretty sure that's correct. Although I'm a complete newbie to Linux, I've done a little in the area of emulation and from what I can tell, WINE isn't an emulator. An emulator imitates the functionality of hardware on other hardware. WINE imitates the functionality of software (mainly the Windows API) on the same hardware. Unlike an emulator, WINE doesn't have to translate instructions from one processor to another and should run faster than an emulated platform would. I'm a newbie, so let me know if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's right. My experience with the WINE included on the Slax CD has been pretty good so far - not everything works perfectly (or for some things at all) but I'm satisfied with how it performs with Winamp and am very anxious to try it out with StarCraft when I get Linux on my hard drive. It's a work in progress.

To continue with the threadjack (), Wine's own website says "Wine Is Not an Emulator". nonoitall has a good explanation of it.

As for the thread-starter's question(s): Linux is not Windows. Windows executables do not run (natively) in Linux. Some Windows programs will run under Wine/CrossoverOffice/Cedega, but not very many, really, and often not very well. (Crossover Office *does* do a good job with MS Office, at least pre-2003 versions). The database of games that Cedega fully supports (5 out of 5 rating) is actually rather small. But if there is a specific program you just *have* to have, you can give the Wine family a shot. It just might work.

*Most* Windows apps have a Linux equivalent, however, so it might just be a matter of searching for the right one. For instance, OpenOffice does a good job of performing the same functions as MS Office, even reading/writing MSO format. The Gimp is the free software answer to Adobe Photoshop, and is more than sufficient for most users' needs.

For Games, first choice is to find a native-Linux version. Unfortunately, few companies produce these, yet. Then Try Cedega, but if it is not a "popular" game, it probably will not be fully supported, if at all. When all esle fails, dual-boot with MSWindows to play games.

As has been pointed out, RedHat 9 is quite old. If you like RH, you might want to download and install Fedora Core 3, its latest incarnation. (It really isn't that hard.) Or you might want to check out some other distros, like Mandrake, or Suse, or Debian. Downloading Knoppix isn't a bad idea either - a full Linux implementation that runs from the CD.

Thanks for all the help and replies: I think I will try to upgrade to Fedora 3 (although I'll take a look at the other distributions before I make a final decision) and I'll be keeping the dual boot for games and such (the other app I was concerned with is Cinema 4D R8, and I doubt there's an open-source equivalent to that program).

Thanks again!

Cinema4D might be fun to play around with and see if you can get it to work under wine (if you're into that kind of thing).

I found [ this tutorial ] with a quick google search. It dates back to 2003 and looks promising. Wine also has improved quite a bit since then.