Ask Jeremy White and Alexandre Julliard About the Future of WINE 346
Last week, after 15 years of development, tempered by the need for arduous reverse engineering, the WINE project released version 1.0. What "1.0" means for WINE is neither that the project is finished, nor that it is perfect, but rather that the software runs a small subset of specific freely downloadable Windows applications. That's not to say it doesn't run scads of others, too -- the apps database is proof that thousands of programs run to at least some degree. Here's your chance to ask WINE developer Jeremy White and WINE project lead Alexandre Julliard (both of Codeweavers) about the future of WINE, or any other questions about the project that cross your mind. The usual Slashdot interview rules apply; please ask as many questions as you'd like, but limit yourself to one question per post. We'll pass on the best questions to Jeremy and Alexandre for their answers.
Most pressing issue... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:10 years from now? (Score:5, Funny)
If in 10 years the dominant platform is Linux, or OS X, where does that leave WINE?
Prohibition (Score:1, Funny)
I hear that Microsoft are trying to get prohibition reinstated, just because that will take the their future problem of wine away now.
Re:Waste of Time (Score:5, Funny)
I tried Wine and it worked terribly.
(no, it's not, but for the purpose of the joke...)
Re:10 years from now? (Score:4, Funny)
No, that's a VNC client.
Notepad.exe works perfectly (Score:5, Funny)
I know making certain key applications work in time for the 1.0 milestone was one of the WINE team's goals, but I just wanted to thank the team, on behalf of everyone in the /. crowd, for making sure Notepad.exe was one of them. It was the first Windows program I tried to use under WINE and it performed flawlessly, making me feel a little more at home on Linux.
We Linux users have been putting up with the likes of vim and Kate and gedit for years, but all of these editors come with major caveats, such as multiple levels of undo and the ability to read both UNIX and DOS text files. With WINE I've been able to use Notepad to delete entire lines when I really mean to delete only one word, and get little square characters where carriage returns should be. I'm so pleased by this app that I'll probably move on to trying Paint.exe next (the silly GIMP airbrush tool isn't as satisfyingly pixellated as the one MS Paint perfected way back in 1995).
Keep up the good work in bringing the Redmond's best software to the Linux desktop!
Re:Think about what you're asking (Score:3, Funny)
"If it were, we'd have already seen a version of WINDOWS that ran all Windows apps without any fancy configuration."
fixed it.
Re:to Jeremy White and Alexandre Julliard (Score:2, Funny)
Sure, but not right now.
Please place it in a vacuum-sealed bag and FedEx it to me along with a prepaid return-ship label.
I'll have it sucked, re vacuum-packed, and shipped back to you just as soon as I possibly can.
Yes we will. (Score:3, Funny)
But only on the HURD version of WINE.
Re:A provocative business question (Score:1, Funny)
That's when the titles roll over, you put down the controller/keyboard and enjoy the Game Over animation.
Re:10 years from now? (Score:2, Funny)
If in 10 years the dominant platform is Linux, or OS X, where does that leave WINE?
Don't we already have enough sour grapes here?
Re:Important! (Score:2, Funny)