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### how to open .exe file

training [training at iconitservices.com]

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:25:23 +0530

dear sir,

how can i open and .exe files in redhat linux.

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Thomas Adam [thomas.adam22 at gmail.com]

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:01:38 +0000

On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:25:23 +0530 training <training at iconitservices.com> wrote:

    > dear sir,
    >
    > how can  i open and .exe files in redhat linux.

You don't natively. Instead, you might use something like 'wine'.

-- Thomas Adam

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Kat Tanaka Okopnik [kat at linuxgazette.net]

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 07:54:20 -0700

On Wed, Mar 07, 2007 at 02:25:23PM +0530, training wrote:

    > dear sir,
    >
    > how can  i open and .exe files in redhat linux.
    >

You may also wish to address the discrepancy in your clock - in my part of the world, it's Friday, March 16; your e-mail claims it's March 7.

    --
    Kat Tanaka Okopnik
    Linux Gazette Mailbag Editor
    kat at linuxgazette.net

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Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 11:59:16 -0400

On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 09:01:38AM +0000, Thomas Adam wrote:

    > On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:25:23 +0530
    > training <training at iconitservices.com> wrote:
    >
    > > dear sir,
    > >
    > > how can  i open and .exe files in redhat linux.
    >
    > You don't natively.  Instead, you might use something like 'wine'.

'training' - (may I call you that? I feel that, through this exchange of emails, we've become, if not close friends, then at least intimate enough to call each other by our first names) - what do you mean by "open"? If you're trying to see what the content is, then there are plenty of viewers: you could use 'bvi' to see the all the ASCII bits including their addresses; 'vi -r' or any other editor that does not "interpret" the content but just shows it to you; 'view', 'less', 'more', etc. to just see what's inside without any danger of overwriting it; 'strings' (perhaps with the '-a' option) to see only the human-readable strings in the file, and so on. Heck, you could even use your favorite browser if you don't mind a bit of distortion.

On the other hand, if you wanted to execute it - well, there's 'dosemu' for programs that output only to the DOS console, and 'wine', as Thomas mentioned, for the simpler GUI apps. If, however, it is the standard modern virus-loaded, spyware-installing, system-backdoor-creating Wind0ws program... well, I'm afraid that we can't help you; you'd need an actual, gin-u-wine (that is, not 'wine') Wind0ws OS to experience its full functionality. Linux kernels are really hard to convince that they should accept a virus, and I'm afraid I don't even know of any patches that could remedy the situation.

(Often, considering whether a Wind0ws application needs to be run on a Linux system _at all_ leads to interesting conclusions (like "NO".) Perhaps that's something you may want to think about.

    --
    * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *

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Jason Creighton [jcreigh at gmail.com]

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:44:19 -0600

On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 11:59:16AM -0400, Ben Okopnik wrote:

    > On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 09:01:38AM +0000, Thomas Adam wrote:
    > > On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:25:23 +0530
    > > training <training at iconitservices.com> wrote:
    > >
    > > > dear sir,
    > > >
    > > > how can  i open and .exe files in redhat linux.
    > >
    > > You don't natively.  Instead, you might use something like 'wine'.
    >
    > 'training' - (may I call you that? I feel that, through this exchange of
    > emails, we've become, if not close friends, then at least intimate
    > enough to call each other by our first names) - what do you mean by
    > "open"? If you're trying to see what the content is, then there are
    > plenty of viewers: you could use 'bvi' to see the all the ASCII bits
    > including their addresses; 'vi -r' or any other editor that does not
    > "interpret" the content but just shows it to you; 'view', 'less',
    > 'more', etc. to just see what's inside without any danger of overwriting
    > it; 'strings' (perhaps with the '-a' option) to see only the
    > human-readable strings in the file, and so on.  Heck, you could even use
    > your favorite browser if you don't mind a bit of distortion.

All playful discussion of raw byte dumps aside, you probably, as Thomas mentions, are looking for wine: http://www.winehq.com/

    > On the other hand, if you wanted to execute it - well, there's 'dosemu'
    > for programs that output only to the DOS console, and 'wine', as Thomas
    > mentioned, for the simpler GUI apps.

dosemu is for DOS executables; there's a difference between a DOS executable and a windows executable that happens to produce console output. dosemu cannot run the latter.

However, with xdosemu, dosemu can emulate a (S)VGA card, allowing you to run graphical DOS applications. Or you can run dosemu as a privileged user (preferably via sudo), cross your fingers, and allow dosemu to access your video card directly. (!) Not for the faint of heart or those who don't like hardware lockups because program X doesn't like video card Y, but it is much faster than having to emulate a video card.

Jason Creighton

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Jimmy ORegan [joregan at gmail.com]

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 13:06:50 +0100

On 16/03/07, Ben Okopnik <ben at linuxgazette.net> wrote:

    > On the other hand, if you wanted to execute it - well, there's 'dosemu'
    > for programs that output only to the DOS console, and 'wine', as Thomas
    > mentioned, for the simpler GUI apps.

Wine should be able to run most things, not just simple programs. It might need some DLLs from a real installation of Windows (http://www.dll-files.com/ should help), and it might not run without errors, but it should be able to handle most programs.

Wine's Application Database (http://appdb.winehq.org/) is good place to check if Wine is able to run your program.

If the program is a self-extracting zip file, unzip should be able to extract the files.

If the program is a .Net executable, use Mono (http://www.mono-project.com/) instead of Wine.

    > If, however, it is the standard
    > modern virus-loaded, spyware-installing, system-backdoor-creating
    > Wind0ws program... well, I'm afraid that we can't help you; you'd need
    > an actual, gin-u-wine (that is, not 'wine') Wind0ws OS to experience
    > its full functionality.

http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/25/1430222&from=rss

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Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 08:57:03 -0400

On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 07:44:19PM -0600, Jason Creighton wrote:

    > On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 11:59:16AM -0400, Ben Okopnik wrote:
    >
    > > On the other hand, if you wanted to execute it - well, there's 'dosemu'
    > > for programs that output only to the DOS console, and 'wine', as Thomas
    > > mentioned, for the simpler GUI apps.
    >
    > dosemu is for DOS executables; there's a difference between a DOS
    > executable and a windows executable that happens to produce console
    > output. dosemu cannot run the latter.

You're right, of course; that's a class of applications that I'd forgotten to mention.

    --
    * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *

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Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:07:06 -0400

On Sat, Mar 17, 2007 at 01:06:50PM +0100, Jimmy O'Regan wrote:

    > On 16/03/07, Ben Okopnik <ben at linuxgazette.net> wrote:
    > > On the other hand, if you wanted to execute it - well, there's 'dosemu'
    > > for programs that output only to the DOS console, and 'wine', as Thomas
    > > mentioned, for the simpler GUI apps.
    >
    > Wine should be able to run most things, not just simple programs. It
    > might need some DLLs from a real installation of Windows
    > (http://www.dll-files.com/ should help), and it might not run without
    > errors, but it should be able to handle most programs.

My experience with Wine is relatively minimal; essentially, I've used it to "install" Wind0ws programs that contain some file I need, copy the file, delete the installation, and go on my merry way. Essentially, a fancy GUI-fied version of 'tar xvf'. Over time, I've noted that it's become less buggy and more prone to actually work - but it's always an "exciting" (read "hit or miss") experience, especially with the more complex programs. I'm almost certain that you're right, though - it's most likely due to my not having all the necessary DLLS.

    > > If, however, it is the standard
    > > modern virus-loaded, spyware-installing, system-backdoor-creating
    > > Wind0ws program... well, I'm afraid that we can't help you; you'd need
    > > an actual, gin-u-wine (that is, not 'wine') Wind0ws OS to experience
    > > its full functionality.
    >
    > http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/01/25/1430222&from=rss
    >

[LOL] Wonderful. I was just snarking; this guy actually did it. Just hilarious.

    --
    * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *

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