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WinApps seems quite convenient for translators
Trådens avsändare: Thiago Masato Costa Sueto
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto  Identity Verified
Brasilien
Local time: 21:34
Engelska till Portugisiska
+ ...
Dec 18, 2020

I recently set up WinApps (https://github.com/Fmstrat/winapps) on my machine.

I'll be writing an analysis after one or a few months using it, but so far it's quite nice.

This software basically connects your local system to a virtual machine (running with QEMU/KVM and virt-manager or virsh) and integrates Windows software by creating .desktop files under ~/.local/share/applic... See more
I recently set up WinApps (https://github.com/Fmstrat/winapps) on my machine.

I'll be writing an analysis after one or a few months using it, but so far it's quite nice.

This software basically connects your local system to a virtual machine (running with QEMU/KVM and virt-manager or virsh) and integrates Windows software by creating .desktop files under ~/.local/share/applications, rendering entries in your menu, and by connecting the VM into your home folder, which means Windows can access your local folder as well as open and save files.

With these set up, it uses freerdp to show that application (and only that instead of the full VM) on your desktop.

It uses (quite) some resources since it's a VM and it's rather annoying to set up, but now I can use Microsoft Word on my Linux machine while ensuring that any application installed on the Windows VM will work 100% and that I'll be working on my system directly instead of having to "enter" the VM every time I want to do something.

The end result is this:
* A new menu entry for each of my Windows applications is created;
* I can right-click and select Open with... to open a home file with a Windows application;
* I can directly open and save my files located in my home folder with Windows applications;
* I can access my Windows files directly from my Linux file manager (via SMB I believe);
* I can run any Windows application with a GUI;
* I can have multiple Windows applications from the same VM running in my Linux session.

This is also distro agnostic, which is convenient. For people who work with languages like us this should help deal with compatibility and file formats. ▲ Collapse


Philippe Locquet
Jean Dimitriadis
JOHANNES KAMBUKWE
 
Philippe Locquet
Philippe Locquet  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 01:34
Medlem (2013)
Engelska till Franska
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Link broken Dec 19, 2020

Thiago Masato Costa Sueto wrote:

(https://github.com/Fmstrat/winapps)

Link seems to be broken.
Interesting, look forward to some feedback!
 
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto  Identity Verified
Brasilien
Local time: 21:34
Engelska till Portugisiska
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Correct url Dec 19, 2020

Oh my, the editor didn't play nice with the parenthesis and included it together with the URL.

Here it is: https://github.com/Fmstrat/winapps
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
Engelska till Franska
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CAT tools Dec 19, 2020

From what I understand, this should also work for Windows-only CAT tools, right? It could be a game changer.
 
Bruno Veilleux
Bruno Veilleux  Identity Verified
Kanada
Local time: 20:34
Engelska till Franska
aaaaa Dec 19, 2020

Jean Dimitriadis wrote:

From what I understand, this should also work for Windows-only CAT tools, right? It could be a game changer.

If it’s just a VM with more seamless integration, any program that works in a Windows VM should work in it. Some programs refuse to run in a VM, though.

And of course there’s the question of whether it’s worth using such a roundabout way to run Windows applications if you’re avoiding Windows in the first place. At least with Wine you’re not running a Windows environment at all.
 
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto
Thiago Masato Costa Sueto  Identity Verified
Brasilien
Local time: 21:34
Engelska till Portugisiska
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Yet another option Dec 20, 2020

Bruno Veilleux wrote:

And of course there’s the question of whether it’s worth using such a roundabout way to run Windows applications if you’re avoiding Windows in the first place. At least with Wine you’re not running a Windows environment at all.


I agree, but I think it's a good idea to have yet another option. Although not particularly complicated, running a VM directly doesn't really integrate with the system and running a VM in its own xsession requires a logout and quite the configuration prior to use, so depending on how much a given software is used one might prefer one over the other. WinApps is probably the most annoying to configure, but it does have a few advantages that might make it attractive to users.

I will have other uses for it aside from strictly translation/editing matters (like comparing software and translations and suggesting improvements) and resource usage isn't a problem, so for me the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Some other projects plan to do the same, so I assume there's at least some demand: WinMin and Word On Ubuntu. Word on Ubuntu hasn't had any release yet and WinMin requires a license key, so I didn't test those yet.
 


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WinApps seems quite convenient for translators






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