documentation/introduction.sgml

   1   <chapter id="introduction">
   2     <title>Introduction</title>
   3
   4     <sect1 id="overview">
   5       <title>Overview / About</title>
   6
   7       <sect2>
   8         <title>Purpose of this document and intended audience</title>
   9         <para>
  10           This document, called the Wine User Guide, is both an easy
  11           installation guide and an extensive reference guide.  This guide
  12           is for both the new Wine user and the experienced Wine user,
  13           offering full step-by-step installation and configuration
  14           instructions, as well as featuring extensive reference material
  15           by documenting all configuration features and support areas.
  16         </para>
  17       </sect2>
  18
  19       <sect2>
  20         <title>Further questions and comments</title>
  21         <para>
  22           If, after examining this guide, the FAQ, and other relevant
  23           documentation there is still something you cannot figure out,
  24           we would love to hear from you.  The <ulink
  25           url="http://www.winehq.org/site/forums">mailing lists</ulink>
  26           section contains several mailing lists and an IRC channel, all
  27           of which are great places to seek help and offer suggestions.
  28           If you are particularly savvy, and believe that something can be
  29           explained better, you can file a <ulink
  30           url="http://bugs.winehq.org/">bug report</ulink> or <ulink
  31           url="http://www.winehq.org/site/sending_patches">post a
  32           patch</ulink> on Wine's documentation itself.
  33         </para>
  34       </sect2>
  35
  36       <sect2>
  37         <title>Content overview / Steps to take</title>
  38         <para>
  39           In order to be able to use Wine, you must first have a working
  40           installation.  This guide will help you to move your system
  41           from an empty, Wineless void to one boasting a fresh, up to
  42           date Wine install.  The first step, <link
  43           linkend="getting-wine">Getting Wine</link>, illustrates the
  44           various methods of getting Wine's files onto your computer.
  45           The second step, <link linkend="config-wine-main">Configuring
  46           Wine</link>, shows how to customize a Wine installation depending
  47           on your individual needs.  The final step, <link
  48           linkend="running">Running Wine</link>, covers the specific
  49           steps you can take to get a particular application to run
  50           better under Wine, and provides useful links in case you need
  51           further help.
  52         </para>
  53       </sect2>
  54
  55     </sect1>
  56
  57     <sect1 id="what-is-wine">
  58       <title>What is Wine?</title>
  59
  60       <sect2>
  61         <title>Windows and Linux</title>
  62         <para>
  63           Different software programs are designed for different
  64           operating systems, and most won't work on systems that they
  65           weren't designed for.  Windows programs, for example, won't run
  66           in Linux because they contain instructions that the system can't
  67           understand until they're translated by the Windows environment.
  68           Linux programs, likewise, won't run under the Windows operating
  69           system because Windows is unable to interpret all of their
  70           instructions.
  71         </para>
  72         <para>
  73           This situation presents a fundamental problem for anyone who
  74           wants to run software for both Windows and Linux.  A common
  75           solution to this problem is to install both operating systems on
  76           the same computer, known as "dual booting."  When a Windows
  77           program is needed, the user boots the machine into Windows to
  78           run it; when a Linux program is then needed, the user then
  79           reboots the machine into Linux.  This option presents great
  80           difficulty: not only must the user endure the frustration of
  81           frequent rebooting, but programs for both platforms can't be
  82           run simultaneously.  Having Windows on a system also creates
  83           an added burden: the software is expensive, requires a separate
  84           disk partition, and is unable to read most filesystem formats,
  85           making the sharing of data between operating systems difficult.
  86         </para>
  87       </sect2>
  88
  89       <sect2>
  90         <title>What is Wine, and how can it help me?</title>
  91         <para>
  92           Wine makes it possible to run Windows programs alongside any
  93           Unix-like operating system, particularly Linux.  At its heart,
  94           Wine is an implementation of the Windows Application
  95           Programing Interface (API) library, acting as a bridge between
  96           the Windows program and Linux.  Think of Wine as a compatibility
  97           layer, when a Windows program tries to perform a function that
  98           Linux doesn't normally understand, Wine will translate that
  99           program's instruction into one supported by the system.  For
 100           example, if a program asks the system to create a Windows
 101           pushbutton or text-edit field, Wine will convert that
 102           instruction into its Linux equivalent in the form of a command
 103           to the window manager using the standard X11 protocol.
 104         </para>
 105         <para>
 106           If you have access to the Windows program's source code, Wine
 107           can also be used to recompile a program into a format that Linux
 108           can understand more easily.  Wine is still needed to launch the
 109           program in its recompiled form, however there are many advantages
 110           to compiling a Windows program natively within Linux.  For more
 111           information, see the Winelib User Guide.
 112         </para>
 113       </sect2>
 114
 115       <sect2 id="wine-features">
 116         <title>Wine features</title>
 117
 118         <para>
 119           Throughout the course of its development, Wine has continually
 120           grown in the features it carries and the programs it can run.
 121           A partial list of these features follows:
 122         </para>
 123         <para>
 124           <itemizedlist>
 125             <listitem>
 126               <para>
 127                 Support for running Win32 (Win 95/98, NT/2000/XP), Win16
 128                 (Win 3.1) and DOS programs
 129               </para>
 130             </listitem>
 131             <listitem>
 132               <para>
 133                 Optional use of external vendor DLL files (such as those
 134                 included with Windows)
 135               </para>
 136             </listitem>
 137             <listitem>
 138               <para>
 139                 X11-based graphics display, allowing remote display to any
 140                 X terminal, as well as a text mode console
 141               </para>
 142             </listitem>
 143             <listitem>
 144               <para>
 145                 Desktop-in-a-box or mixable windows
 146               </para>
 147             </listitem>
 148             <listitem>
 149               <para>
 150                 DirectX support for games
 151               </para>
 152             </listitem>
 153             <listitem>
 154               <para>
 155                 Good support for various sound drivers including OSS and ALSA
 156               </para>
 157             </listitem>
 158             <listitem>
 159               <para>
 160                 Support for alternative input devices
 161               </para>
 162             </listitem>
 163             <listitem>
 164               <para>
 165                 Printing: PostScript interface driver (psdrv) to standard
 166                 Unix PostScript print services
 167               </para>
 168             </listitem>
 169             <listitem>
 170               <para>
 171                 Modem, serial device support
 172               </para>
 173             </listitem>
 174             <listitem>
 175               <para>
 176                 Winsock TCP/IP networking support
 177               </para>
 178             </listitem>
 179             <listitem>
 180               <para>
 181                 ASPI interface (SCSI) support for scanners, CD writers,
 182                 and other devices
 183               </para>
 184             </listitem>
 185             <listitem>
 186               <para>
 187                 Advanced unicode and foreign language support
 188               </para>
 189             </listitem>
 190             <listitem>
 191               <para>
 192                 Full-featured Wine debugger and configurable trace
 193                 logging messages for easier troubleshooting
 194               </para>
 195             </listitem>
 196           </itemizedlist>
 197         </para>
 198       </sect2>
 199     </sect1>
 200
 201     <sect1 id="wine-versions">
 202       <title>Versions of Wine</title>
 203         <sect2>
 204           <title>Wine from Wine HQ</title>
 205
 206           <para>
 207              Wine is an open source project, and there are accordingly
 208              many different versions of Wine for you to choose from.  The
 209              standard version of Wine comes in intermittant releases
 210              (roughly once a month), and can be downloaded over the
 211              internet in both prepackaged binary form and ready to compile
 212              source code form.  Alternatively, you can install a development
 213              version of Wine by using the latest available source code on
 214              the CVS server.  See the next chapter, <link
 215              linkend="getting-wine">Getting Wine</link>, for further details.
 216           </para>
 217         </sect2>
 218         <sect2>
 219           <title>Other Versions of Wine</title>
 220           <para>
 221             There are a number of programs that are derived from the
 222             standard Wine codebase in some way or another.  Some of these
 223             are commercial products from companies that actively contribute
 224             to the Wine project.
 225           </para>
 226           <para>
 227             These products try to stand out or distinguish themselves
 228             from the standard version of Wine by offering greater
 229             compatibility, easier configuration, and commercial support.
 230             If you require such things, it is a good idea to consider
 231             purchasing these products.
 232           </para>
 233       <table><title>Various Wine offerings</title>
 234         <tgroup cols=3 align="left">
 235           <thead>
 236             <row>
 237               <entry>Product</entry>
 238               <entry>Description</entry>
 239               <entry>Distribution Form</entry>
 240             </row>
 241           </thead>
 242           <tbody>
 243             <row>
 244               <entry>
 245                 <ulink
 246                 url="http://www.codeweavers.com/products/office">CodeWeavers CrossOver Office</ulink>
 247               </entry>
 248               <entry>
 249                 CrossOver Office allows you to install your favorite
 250                 Windows productivity applications in Linux, without
 251                 needing a Microsoft Operating System license. CrossOver
 252                 includes an easy to use, single click interface, which
 253                 makes installing a Windows application simple and fast.
 254               </entry>
 255               <entry>
 256                 Commercial; 30-day fully-functional demo available.
 257               </entry>
 258             </row>
 259             <row>
 260               <entry>
 261                 <ulink
 262                 url="http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxofficeserver">CodeWeavers CrossOver Office Server Edition</ulink>
 263               </entry>
 264               <entry>
 265                 CrossOver Office Server Edition allows you to run your
 266                 favorite Windows productivity applications in a
 267                 distributed thin-client environment under Linux, without
 268                 needing Microsoft Operating System licenses for each
 269                 client machine. CrossOver Office Server Edition allows you
 270                 to satisfy the needs of literally hundreds of concurrent
 271                 users, all from a single server.
 272               </entry>
 273             </row>
 274           </tbody>
 275         </tgroup>
 276       </table>
 277      </sect2>
 278     </sect1>
 279
 280     <sect1 id="alternatives">
 281       <title>Alternatives to Wine you might want to consider</title>
 282       <para>
 283           There are many ways to run software other than through Wine.  If
 284           you are considering using Wine to run an application you might
 285           want to think about the viability of these approaches if you
 286           encounter difficulty.
 287       </para>
 288
 289       <sect2>
 290         <title>Native Applications</title>
 291         <para>
 292           Instead of running a particular Windows application with Wine,
 293           one frequently viable alternative is to simply run a different
 294           application.  Many Windows applications, particularly more
 295           commonly used ones such as media players, instant messengers,
 296           and filesharing programs have very good open source equivalents.
 297           Furthermore, a sizable number of Windows programs have been
 298           ported to Linux directly, eliminating the need for Wine (or
 299           Windows) entirely.
 300         </para>
 301       </sect2>
 302       <sect2>
 303         <title>Another Operating System</title>
 304         <para>
 305           Probably the most obvious method of getting a Windows
 306           application to run is to simply run it on Windows.  However,
 307           security, license cost, backward-compatibility, and machine
 308           efficiency issues can make this a difficult proposition, which
 309           is why Wine is so useful in the first place.
 310         </para>
 311         <para>
 312           Another alternative is to use <ulink
 313           url="http://www.reactos.com">ReactOS</ulink>, which is a fully
 314           open source alternative to Windows.  ReactOS shares code
 315           heavily with the Wine project, but rather than running Windows
 316           applications on top of Linux they are instead run on top of the
 317           ReactOS kernel.  ReactOS also offers compatibility with Windows
 318           driver files, allowing the use of hardware without functional
 319           Linux drivers.
 320         </para>
 321       </sect2>
 322       <sect2>
 323         <title>Virtual Machines</title>
 324         <para>
 325           Rather than installing an entirely new operating system on your
 326           machine, you can instead run a virtual machine at the software
 327           level and install a different operating system on it.  Thus, you
 328           could run a Linux system and at the same time run Windows along
 329           with your application in a virtual machine simultaneously on the
 330           same hardware.  Virtual machines allow you to install and run
 331           not only different versions of Windows on the same hardware, but
 332           also other operating systems, including ReactOS.
 333         </para>
 334         <para>
 335           There are several different virtual machine offerings out there,
 336           and some are also able to emulate x86 hardware on different
 337           platforms.  The open source <ulink
 338           url="http://bochs.sourceforge.net/">Bochs</ulink> and <ulink
 339           url="http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/">QEMU</ulink> can run
 340           both Windows and ReactOS virtually.  Other, commercial virtual
 341           machine offerings include <ulink
 342           url="http://www.vmware.com/">VMware</ulink> and Microsoft's
 343           <ulink url="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/virtualpc/">VirtualPC</ulink>.
 344         </para>
 345         <para>
 346           There are significant drawbacks to using virtual machines,
 347           however.  Unlike Wine, such programs <emphasis>are</emphasis>
 348           emulators, so there is an inevitable speed decrease which can
 349           be quite substantial.  Furthermore, running an application
 350           inside a virtual machine prevents fully integrating the
 351           application within the current environment.  You won't, for
 352           example, be able to have windows system tray icons or program
 353           shortcuts sitting alongside your desktop Linux ones, since
 354           instead the Windows applications must reside completely within
 355           the virtual machine.
 356         </para>
 357       </sect2>
 358     </sect1>
 359   </chapter>
 360
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