The way I run yWriter on Linux

[Mike Sova]

I thought I would share this as it may help some people trying to
run under Linux and running into issues.

I have posted before how I was running under Linux. And for the
most part yWriter ran good. However I did find a couple of bugs that
made me not trust it with projects. I found my self just using it for
outlining. I liked using yWriter for more so I started looking for a
solution.

I had read lots on visualization under Linux so I started looking
more into it. From what I read VMware had the best free solution
available. So I downloaded the free VMware Player and installed
WindowsXP with the license that came with my computer. I figured it
wouldn't activate but it did. I installed yWriter and it works 100% as
if it was running in windows (cause it is running in windows).

I should note that I use a file server for saving my work and both the
Linux desktop and the VMware windows desktop mount the server so file
sharing between the desktops is seamless. For those without a file
server I believe you would have to have the Linux desktop share a folder
and have the VMware desktop mount it. Or use the drag and drop feature
of VMware which allows dragging files from one desktop to the other.

Here is how I use it. I load VMware and resume the virtual machine with
windows, it takes a minute to load then pops up my windows desktop with
yWriter still running maximized. If I want to resize yWriter I just
resize the windows window with yWriter maximized and it resizes the
virtual desktop on the fly. It works just as if yWriter was running on
the Linux machine natively but its on a virtual windows desktop. When
I'm done with yWriter I save my work then I just close the windows
window and it suspends the virtual machine. I only ever reboot the
virtual machine when a windows update requires it. It has never
crashed, unlike windows on the physical hardware which for me crashes
every 3 hours.

Note: I only have windows xp, vmware drivers, and yWriter installed. I
have no malware protection, no anti virus or anything else. The only
thing the virtual windows machine accesses the Internet for is windows
updates and the yWriter update check. Everything else I do though Linux
natively.

[Simon Haynes]

Virtualbox is another way to run Windows XP in a virtual machine.

You can also run VMWare or Virtualbox on Windows, with another version of Windows inside it. I keep a number of virtual machines running, from Ubuntu to Gentoo to Windows 98 through XP.

Now that I'm on Windows 7 64-bit I can no longer run the VB6 IDE (e.g. used for yWriter4 amongst others), so a virtual machine is the only answer.

Cheers
Simon
--
Software designer & programmer
+ author of the Hal Spacejock series

Mike Sova wrote:

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[Dennis M. Thielen]

Thanks for this very helpful information. I just installed mono and yWriter5 on my Ubuntu installation. I'll have to try the trick you're  using. Btw, installing anything in Linux is like pulling teeth. I wanted the challenge, though... "be careful what you wish for..."

[Dennis M. Thielen]

LOL, you just opened up a whole new world for me. And I thought virtual machine was only good for installing games and being able to play them without CD/DVD.

[Simon Haynes]

Dennis M. Thielen wrote:

> LOL, you just opened up a whole new world for me. And I thought virtual
> machine was only good for installing games and being able to play them

> without CD/DVD. O:-)
>

There's another benefit too - you can copy a VM from your desktop to your laptop. It's usually just one or two files. (Don't quote me on this, but I think you can copy a Virtualbox VM from Windows to Linux too.)

[Dennis M. Thielen]

Thanks.

[William Seward]

This has somewhat been my experience as well. When Microsoft dropped XP I replaced it with Linux Mint 16 Cinnamon on my laptop. I had trouble getting Mono to work at all. Wine works for some things, but yWriter5 kept crashing with "unhandled exception" errors. So far the best performance has been in a VMWare box with Windows XP. I was able to install the XP in the virtual machine with little trouble before XP support ended, so I could update it as far as possible before the deadline. Then I disconnected it from the internet. I'm currently sharing the Dropbox folder on the laptop for working files, backing up occasionally to a pendrive.
My decision to keep using XP in the virtual machine was driven both by yWriter5 and a couple of other "legacy" programs I use regularly for CAD and genealogy.
   By the way, besides those programs original uses, I also use them for writing chores. My primary writing project is a series of small town mysteries. I used CAD to adapt existing maps for my fictional town to keep the geography straight, and I use the genealogy software to keep relationships in the small town straight. (It is really true that a large percentage of people in small towns are related to each other. At least in mine.)
   Huge fan of yWriter5, by the way. Wonderful job! Sure, I wish it worked flat out on Linux, but that's really is still a small percentage of the user group out there. With XP pretty much dead now, and dissatisfaction with newer Windows offerings, I'm hoping that will swing more over to Linux!
   Thanks, Simon!

[KL]

Weird, I'm running yWriter on linux Mint 16 Cinnamon with no trouble. Did you follow the directions for installing it on linux on Simon's site or did you just try installing it? I know I had some problems with it the first time I Installed it but I forgot to do the prep steps. After installing it following Simon's directions I haven't had any problems.

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KL

Imagination is the seed of intelligence. Nourish it and watch it grow.

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[Dennis Thielen]

Linux Mint 17 is now out: for Mate and Cinnamon.