wine users - Mar 2008 - If you think getting Windows games working in Wine is hard ...

... try getting old Linux binaries to work in a current Linux. It's
actually harder.

http://secretlondon.livejournal.com/447659.html

(Windows is all about binary compatibility, but Linux is expressly not
- it's all about *source* compatibility. So old programs are more
likely to work by running the Windows version in Wine.)


- d.

David Gerard wrote:
> ... try getting old Linux binaries to work in a current Linux. It's
> actually harder.
>
> http://secretlondon.livejournal.com/447659.html
>
> (Windows is all about binary compatibility, but Linux is expressly not
> - it's all about *source* compatibility. So old programs are more
> likely to work by running the Windows version in Wine.)
>
>
> - d.
>
>
>   
I am not as convinced about windows binary compatibility as David. You 
can't run 16 bit binaries on any of the 64 bit versions of Windows. This 
can be a curse for installers. It also broke when windows 3 was 
introduced because windows wouldn't run the old PharLap extended DOS 
programs. Or any DOS program that needed ring 0.

For true binary compatibility I have to hand it to Tru64 unix on 
DEC/Digital/Compaq/HP Alpha machines. We still have users running a 1994 
binary on the latest version of the op sys. Although, Solaris (SPARC) 
binaries have been pretty good as well. AIX broke when a CPU change 
introduced some new exception bits in the FPU status register which 
caused the accrued exception bit to stay set because I only cleared the 
ones I knew about. Otherwise AIX has been pretty good as well. So I 
think proprietary UNIX wins the binary compatibility stakes.

Geoff

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On Thursday 27 March 2008 07:39:22 am David Gerard
wrote:
> ... try getting old Linux binaries to work in a current Linux. It's
> actually harder.
>
> http://secretlondon.livejournal.com/447659.html
>
> (Windows is all about binary compatibility, but Linux is expressly not
> - it's all about *source* compatibility. So old programs are more
> likely to work by running the Windows version in Wine.)
Assuming you don't have the source.  If you have the source, odds are you 
go ./configure then make whatever, grab some coffee and hopefully all went 
well and compiled by the time you get back...

- -- 
Paul Johnson
baloo at ursine.ca
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