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Idea #23641: Easier Wine Access – Installation

bug This idea was marked as being in development the 15 February 10.
Written by Klau3 the 11 Feb 10 at 11:44. Related project: Wine. Status: In development
Rationale
When double clicking on an .exe-file in a newly installed Ubuntu system, the archive manager will show up with an error message.

There are two points:
- New users don't know that Wine exists.
- The current model breaks the work flow and gives no information on how to proceed.

The suggested infobox would give the average user the opportunity to install the selected Windows program easily using Wine, and inform him about how software is usually installed.


Developer comments
This is something I've already been working on for quite some time. ~Scott Ritchie

108
votes
inprogress
Selected solution (#1): Double clicking an .exe-file -> Infobox
Written by Klau3 the 11 Feb 10 at 11:44.


Check if Wine is installed when not -> show infobox.
44
votes
inprogress
Selected solution (#2): And do the same for other unsupported by defaults file formats.
Written by Ssdg the 12 Feb 10 at 06:47.
After all, exes or .foo are the same. You need some extra software to read them.
26
votes
inprogress
Selected solution (#3): Add information that not all win32 programs are supported!
Written by la_serpe the 13 Feb 10 at 18:43.
There should be a warning because definitely not all Windows applications are supported. Users should avoid unpleasant surprises.
4
votes
inprogress
Selected solution (#4): Improve the Archive Manager and system documentation
Written by dlithgow the 15 Feb 10 at 12:05.
Let's keep this simple, and reuse existing Ubuntu elements.

There are two issues here:

1. Archive Manager can't unpack exe files by default, but tries and doesn't offer a solution. This is solved by fixing bug# 148084 (https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/file-roller/+bug/148084) "totem-like/firefox-like plugin installer for file-roller"

2. Users from Windows expect to run an exe file. The best reaction to Ubuntu doing something unexpected, and the reaction we want to encourage, is for the user to look in the documentation. There needs to be a useful result when searching for "exe" in Yelp which explains why an exe doesn't run in Ubuntu and what users can do about that. (The System Documentation is the right place for Solution #3 to be implemented)

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Comments
jamesisin wrote on the 13 Feb 10 at 01:07
Of course there would have to be some logic built into the system (for solution 2) so that a user could potentially select from multiple applications who happen to share a common file extension. (I don't mean common file type. I mean where the file types are different but the extension happens to be the same.)

PaddyLandau wrote on the 15 Feb 10 at 11:36
Newbies to Linux often find Wine frustrating to understand and use.

Therefore, for Solution #1, I strongly suggest that it recommend a Wine manager in addition to Wine itself.

The Wine manager that I use and recommend is PlayOnLinux, which makes using Wine hugely easier and fuss-free. (There may be other free alternatives that I don't know about.)

A link to some instructions (for the newbie) would go well with the notice.

haydoni wrote on the 15 Feb 10 at 14:37
When double clicking a .exe, Ubuntu could offer suggestions of similar* software which is freely available in the software centre, this would promote the use of repositories and help to prevent accidental viruses/malware being installed through wine. See this idea: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/23568/.

Of course in many cases, e.g. games, their is no substitute so nothing will be available in the repositories. In these cases your problem is a good one and this process should be made easier.


*based on the name (?) of the .exe file

andypiper wrote on the 15 Feb 10 at 21:54
This is being (partially) addressed in the Vineyard work at https://launchpad.net/vineyard and the former blueprint for stronger integration https://wiki.ubuntu.com/karmic-wine-integration

Cybolic wrote on the 16 Feb 10 at 22:27
As Andy Piper mentioned, it is indeed being addressed in Vineyard, and actually with support for more than just Windows executables.

Screenshot as example (not a mock-up): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/278272/Screenshots/Screenshot-java-ask.png

justintime03_2 wrote on the 17 Feb 10 at 05:28
Solution #1 sounds great. But what if it also had a link to WineHQ's AppDB so the user could see how well their app/game works before they install it, and perhaps see anything that might need to be done to get it to install and run with it's fullest potential with the last tested version of WINE. But I know this would be too technical for some users, but it'd be handy to see if your app has a gold or platinum rating before you install. Just a rough idea.

gameguy95 wrote on the 9 Mar 10 at 01:22
i think the best solution would be to just have Wine installed as part of the default software that you get when you install Linux

Klau3 wrote on the 31 Mar 10 at 17:11
Nice to see that there is some movement in the proposed direction.


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