How to run an exe???

manolakis · 09-21-2007, 04:40 AM

Hi LQ.
I had an exe program in Windows and i copied it to my Linux. Does anybody know anyway for running exe files in Linux? Do we have to make any conversion to the file?

Thanks

pwc101 · 09-21-2007, 05:08 AM

Look into WINE (http://www.winehq.com). It allows you to run windows executables from within Linux.

Quote:

Originally Posted by winehq.com

Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix.

Think of Wine as a compatibility layer for running Windows programs. Wine does not require Microsoft Windows, as it is a completely free alternative implementation of the Windows API consisting of 100% non-Microsoft code, however Wine can optionally use native Windows DLLs if they are available. Wine provides both a development toolkit for porting Windows source code to Unix as well as a program loader, allowing many unmodified Windows programs to run on x86-based Unixes, including Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and Solaris.

jay73 · 09-21-2007, 05:16 AM

Exe files are windows files an will not run natively on a Linux system. Linux equivalents of exe are rpm or deb, which obviously won't install on windows any better than an exe would on Linux.

As pointed out by pwc 101, you should install Wine as this introduces an extra layer that allows for running windows binaries (exe). However, wine is under constant development and some software may not work properly or fail to install to begin with.

My first suggestion, however, would be to check whether there isn't any Linux version available for the software in question. The number of "windows" applications that now support Linux too is still relatively small but growing fast.

AlucardZero · 09-21-2007, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Exe files are windows files an will not run natively on a Linux system. Linux equivalents of exe are rpm or deb, which obviously won't install on windows any better than an exe would on Linux.

Not quite.. exes aren't just for installing things; almost all executables on Windows are exes. Most Linux executables don't have an extension.