5 ms·

Can I run wine on windows then? Only semi joking!

__s 5y ago
Yes: https://www.reddit.com/r/bashonubuntuonwindows/comments/6joykc/running_wine_on_wsl https://www.reddit.com/r/bashonubuntuonwindows/comments/6joy... Give it time, WSL support for graphics is in preview: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-apps https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-a...
- mwcampbell 5y ago
  I think it would be interesting to package up ReactOS [1], which shares a lot of code with Wine, as a VM that could be shipped with an application along with something like QEMU. If I'm not mistaken, QEMU supports virtualization through the Windows Hypervisor Platform and macOS's Hypervisor.framework. Could be a good way for GOG to sell old Windows games. [1]: https://reactos.org/ https://reactos.org/
  - Koshkin 5y ago
    Not to take away from ReactOS as a project, this somehow doesn’t make much sense to me, as WINE (and its spin-offs, like Valve’s Proton) is already good enough as a portable gaming platform.
    - mwcampbell 5y ago
      I was thinking in particular about the Wine on Windows use case. Running ReactOS in a VM seems a more direct route than running Wine in a Linux VM (e.g. via WSL 2). Edit: I also think it would have made a lot of sense for Valve to invest in getting ReactOS running on their Steam Deck hardware, so they could use that instead of Linux. They're clearly a Windows-first shop, and ReactOS is modeled on NT right down to the kernel. Having a Unix-like OS running underneath, when one really just wants to run Windows code, adds an extra translation layer and impedance mismatches that might even be user-visible.
      - usrusr 5y ago
        About the ReactOS on Steam Deck bit: I'd suspect that this might be a bit too much for what looks like a fragile peace between Microsoft and Valve. Doing Deck on Linux is one thing (in the days of Linux on Azure it can't be much of a provocation), but ReactOS could still be too much I think. "If you want Windows, ask us for a good offer!" Technically Proton on Linux might be very similar (even the same code in key parts?), but on a subjective level, I could easily see one trigger a red line reaction the other would not.
      - seba_dos1 5y ago
        You don't need a VM or WSL to run Wine, you can run it on Windows. Sometimes even WineD3D alone is enough to fix issues with old games. Also, Valve's interest in GNU/Linux is broader than just Deck.
      - Koshkin 5y ago
        Actually, WINE works in WSL 1, too.
      - LeFantome 5y ago
        WINE is Windows APIs running on the Linux kernel ( host OS kernel ). The Linux kernel is already high quality and high performance. ReactOS is Windows APIs running on the from-scratch ReactOS kernel that is not very good. The ReactOS project is not the source for most of the APIs a game is going to use. Many of the come from WINE. Using ReactOS instead of WINE on Linux makes little sense at this point. It would certainly be a lot more expense and time to create a commercial quality product. Most of the work creating API support to WINE / Proton is portable to ReactOS of the kernel ever gets there.
      - chungy 5y ago
        It might make sense if ReactOS's software compatibility was higher, but alas, it's a lot better on the Linux+Wine side of things than direct ReactOS.
hedgewitch 5y ago
Not sure if this would help in this exact case, but I've used OTVDM to run some old games successfully. https://github.com/otya128/winevdm https://github.com/otya128/winevdm
lmm 5y ago
I actually did that and solved a real problem with it (being able to run the Riven installer on a newer windows), by building Wine under SFU/SUA (I don't know if that still exists or has been removed in favour of WSL) and running it against XMing32. I never got freetype working so all the text was monospace and overflowing the dialogue boxes, but it was enough to run basic programs.

__s 5y ago

Yes: https://www.reddit.com/r/bashonubuntuonwindows/comments/6joykc/running_wine_on_wsl https://www.reddit.com/r/bashonubuntuonwindows/comments/6joy... Give it time, WSL support for graphics is in preview: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-apps https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-a...

mwcampbell 5y ago
I think it would be interesting to package up ReactOS [1], which shares a lot of code with Wine, as a VM that could be shipped with an application along with something like QEMU. If I'm not mistaken, QEMU supports virtualization through the Windows Hypervisor Platform and macOS's Hypervisor.framework. Could be a good way for GOG to sell old Windows games. [1]: https://reactos.org/ https://reactos.org/
- Koshkin 5y ago
  Not to take away from ReactOS as a project, this somehow doesn’t make much sense to me, as WINE (and its spin-offs, like Valve’s Proton) is already good enough as a portable gaming platform.
  - mwcampbell 5y ago
    I was thinking in particular about the Wine on Windows use case. Running ReactOS in a VM seems a more direct route than running Wine in a Linux VM (e.g. via WSL 2). Edit: I also think it would have made a lot of sense for Valve to invest in getting ReactOS running on their Steam Deck hardware, so they could use that instead of Linux. They're clearly a Windows-first shop, and ReactOS is modeled on NT right down to the kernel. Having a Unix-like OS running underneath, when one really just wants to run Windows code, adds an extra translation layer and impedance mismatches that might even be user-visible.
    - usrusr 5y ago
      About the ReactOS on Steam Deck bit: I'd suspect that this might be a bit too much for what looks like a fragile peace between Microsoft and Valve. Doing Deck on Linux is one thing (in the days of Linux on Azure it can't be much of a provocation), but ReactOS could still be too much I think. "If you want Windows, ask us for a good offer!" Technically Proton on Linux might be very similar (even the same code in key parts?), but on a subjective level, I could easily see one trigger a red line reaction the other would not.
    - seba_dos1 5y ago
      You don't need a VM or WSL to run Wine, you can run it on Windows. Sometimes even WineD3D alone is enough to fix issues with old games. Also, Valve's interest in GNU/Linux is broader than just Deck.
    - Koshkin 5y ago
      Actually, WINE works in WSL 1, too.
    - LeFantome 5y ago
      WINE is Windows APIs running on the Linux kernel ( host OS kernel ). The Linux kernel is already high quality and high performance. ReactOS is Windows APIs running on the from-scratch ReactOS kernel that is not very good. The ReactOS project is not the source for most of the APIs a game is going to use. Many of the come from WINE. Using ReactOS instead of WINE on Linux makes little sense at this point. It would certainly be a lot more expense and time to create a commercial quality product. Most of the work creating API support to WINE / Proton is portable to ReactOS of the kernel ever gets there.
    - chungy 5y ago
      It might make sense if ReactOS's software compatibility was higher, but alas, it's a lot better on the Linux+Wine side of things than direct ReactOS.

hedgewitch 5y ago

Not sure if this would help in this exact case, but I've used OTVDM to run some old games successfully. https://github.com/otya128/winevdm https://github.com/otya128/winevdm

lmm 5y ago

I actually did that and solved a real problem with it (being able to run the Riven installer on a newer windows), by building Wine under SFU/SUA (I don't know if that still exists or has been removed in favour of WSL) and running it against XMing32. I never got freetype working so all the text was monospace and overflowing the dialogue boxes, but it was enough to run basic programs.