Ubuntu
wine package

Recommendations for choosing a program to run executables in Ubuntu 10.05 LTS?

Asked by Alane

I'm trying to install a downloaded application on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS version but none of the current applications apparently recognizes and I was prompted to select an application that would run the executable. I am trying to install eset security for Linux.

I went to Ubuntu Software Help Center to search for an program to run this (searched on "run executable") and was presented with list of 191 options that didn't seem to fit (speech synthesis) or were beyond my technical understanding (OCAML?).

Any suggestions as to what I should use? Is there such a thing as a generic executable application for Ubuntu? Or do I need to know the code in which the download program is written in order to "execute" it?

Thanks,
Alane

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Answered
For:
Ubuntu wine Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
mycae (mycae) said : 		#1

".exe" files only run under windows. Use the "wine" package if you need to. however it is usually recommended *not* to run executables, except for a last resort.

Doing so means you are running untrusted code, and is one of the key flaws in windows' security model.

What are you actually trying to do? There may be alternate programs to help you achieve your task

Revision history for this message
mycae (mycae) said : 		#2

Sorry, to qualify my above -- "exe" files are programs compiled to run under windows -- they only run *natively* under that platform. Under non-windows platforms (incl. linux, mac and android) you cannot *directly* run these.

You can of course, as I mentioned use the "wine" program to emulate a windows environment, and run them that way.

Revision history for this message
Alane (alanesocial) said : 		#3

To clarify, the file in question is a *.linux file, not an *.exe file.

The Ubuntu message indicated that none of the applications could run the selected "executable" and that I would need to manually select the appropriate application.

Therefore, I thought the word "executable" was a generic term that transcended the OS platform.

Thanks,
Alane

Revision history for this message
mycae (mycae) said : 		#4

File extensions are not supposed to be meaningful, for the most part.

Simply right click the file, and set the execute permission in the permissions tab.

Alternately, open a command line, use the "cd" command to change to the same folder as your download, then type

./NAMEOFFILE

where you substitute "NAMEOFFILE" for the actual name.

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask Alane for more information if necessary.

To post a message you must log in.