(CC Scott) About the packaging issues, I have to agree the current system seems a bit counter-intuitive. I believe this was discussed before - something about debian naming rules - but given the development cycle of wine, wouldn't something like google-chrome's naming be better? wine-stable (1.0, 1.2, 1.4...) wine-unstable or wine-beta (minor releases)
J. Leclanche On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 3:25 AM, Edward Savage <epss...@gmail.com> wrote: > On 25/06/2011, at 11:38, Austin English <austinengl...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Fri, Jun 24, 2011 at 18:58, Dan Kegel <d...@kegel.com> wrote: >>> http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/231065/ubuntu_linux_day_23_would_you_like_some_wine_with_that.html >>> >>> First problem - ubuntu's package manager is unclear: >>> >>> "I opened up my handy-dandy Ubuntu Software Center and typed Wine in >>> the search field, and...WTF? There are 14 matching items that show up. >>> Many of them are variations on 'Microsoft Windows Compatibility >>> Layer'. One has '(meta package)' at the end, another has '(dummy >>> package)'. They each have a little sub-title like 'wine', or >>> 'wine-gecko', or 'wine1.3-gecko'. Why isn't there just a single app >>> clearly called 'Wine'? >>> I didn't really have any clue which of these various software packages >>> is the real Wine, but the one at the top--the 'meta package'--had the >>> most ratings and ranked highly at 4.5 stars, so I decided to give that >>> one a shot." >>> >>> Second problem - he expected to run a program called Wine, found >>> wineconfig, did something with it, and then got back on track: >>> "Once it completed installing, I went to the Applications lens on the >>> Unity bar and typed in Wine. It claims I have three apps installed >>> that fit that description: Configure Wine, Uninstall Wine Software, >>> and Winetricks. I was hoping to actually run Wine, but given these >>> three options it seems that Configure Wine is the logical first >>> choice. >>> I clicked Configure Wine and the Wine Configuration console popped up >>> (go figure). At the bottom of the Applications tab, it specific which >>> version of Windows to emulate...I mean be compatible with. It defaults >>> to Windows XP, but I changed it to Windows 7... >>> OK. Now, I am ready to run some Windows software, right?" >>> >>> Third problem: he expected Office 2010 to install and run >>> >>> Fourth problem: he couldn't even run the installer: >>> " I opened up the folder from my Windows drive where I store >>> downloaded software, right-clicked my Microsoft Office 2010 >>> installation executable and clicked 'Open With Wine Windows Program >>> Loader', and...got an error message. Something to the effect that this >>> software is not marked as executable. >>> Windows logoRunning Windows software in Wine proved convoluted and >>> elusive.I checked with Google, and found a helpful walk-through from >>> Psychocats.net called Using Wine on Ubuntu. Apparently, the fact that >>> the software is an EXE is not obvious enough, so I have to first >>> right-click the file, go into the Properties, and click a checkbox >>> designating the file as executable. >>> Seems convoluted. The problem is, every time I click the checkbox my >>> check disappears. It won't let me make my file executable. I tried >>> looking for more help on Google to no avail. I tried a couple other >>> executable installation files, but couldn't mark those as executable >>> either. I assume it is a permissions thing--like I need to somehow >>> access the file permissions with root privileges in order to be able >>> to make those changes. That is just a theory, though. >>> So, no Windows software running for me just yet." >>> >>> >>> Ouch, ouch, ouch. >> >> These all sound like packaging problems.. >> >> -- >> -Austin >> > > At least one is an issues that Wine could directly address. > > Wine should investigate and inform users why they can't run a program and > where to look for help. > > It could detect execution permissions, filesystem type, run location outside > Wine paths etc. Then give helpful direction. > > Regards, > >