convert a Linux program to Windows 10

MisterEd said:

You said the original program was run in Linux. Many Linux programs are open source and have freely available source code. I assume the program your friend has has source code like that. If that is the case I don't why your friend would worry about what he is doing because people are encouraged to use the source code.[quo

The program is actually closed code. I don't know much else about how it's designed or coded.

I used to be Computer Programmer but retired over 10 years ago. The process is a lot more difficult that you might think. It is not simply a matter of looking at a few websites. A online course only gives you the basics. Only a lot of experience would give what is needed to do what your friend wanted to do. After all, if it was that easy why would they be paying people $100,000 or more per year to do it.

BTW, maybe 15 years ago for fun I reverse engineered a few programs I had. I didn't have the source code. I had to run these programs and watch what their output was from the input. I then wrote new code to replicate the the original programs. That was quite a learning experience.

I'm sure you are right. Please understand. I was never a Computer Program, just a guy who used to code up problems back in my university days and early career days. All I know is that he has expressed some interest in doing a Windows port, and I thought I might help by starting this thread. So maybe my idea was misguided.

Interesting to read someone wants to run a Linux program in windows.. often it is the other way around..
I have four windows programs i would love to be able run in Linux, so i don't have to have dualboot Windows/linux and i don't have to get Win10 as win8.1 is EOL

Sorry for not contribute to the thread, i was just surprised that someone wanted to run Linux software on windows. i had never heard that before.

x509 said:

...All I know is that he has expressed some interest in doing a Windows port, and I thought I might help by starting this thread...

Microsoft says this on porting from Linux to Windows:

Microsoft said:

Running Linux programs on Windows

To run a Linux program on Windows, you have these options:

• Run the program as-is on the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)....
• Run the program as-is in a Linux virtual machine....
• Compile the program using gcc or clang in the MinGW or MinGW-w64 environments, which provide a translation layer from Linux to Windows system calls.
• Compile and run the program using gcc or clang in the Cygwin environment, which provides a more complete Linux environment on Windows compared to MinGW or MinGW-w64.
• Manually port your code from Linux and compile for Windows using Microsoft C++ (MSVC). This involves refactoring platform-independent code into separate libraries, and then re-writing the Linux-specific code to use Windows-specific code (for example, Win32 or DirectX APIs). For applications that require high performance graphics, this is probably the best option.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cp...-unix-to-win32

Marie SWE said:

... i was just surprised that someone wanted to run Linux software on windows. i had never heard that before.

Multi-platform software is quite common. You've not used GIMP, Firefox or LibreOffice then?

Marie SWE said:

Interesting to read someone wants to run a Linux program in windows.. often it is the other way around..
I have four windows programs i would love to be able run in Linux, so i don't have to have dualboot Windows/linux and i don't have to get Win10 as win8.1 is EOL

Sorry for not contribute to the thread, i was just surprised that someone wanted to run Linux software on windows. i had never heard that before.

I can't speak to the "how" but the goal would be Windows software that does not require the presence of or knowledge of Linux. To be clear this is my assumption, but then again, I'm not the guy with the program (including source code) so I don't know his goals.

I have to say, as the OP who thought he was asking a "simple question," this has been an interesting thread.

x509 said:

I can't speak to the "how" but the goal would be Windows software that does not require the presence of or knowledge of Linux. To be clear this is my assumption, but then again, I'm not the guy with the program (including source code) so I don't know his goals.

I have to say, as the OP who thought he was asking a "simple question," this has been an interesting thread.

Your so called "simple question" is impossible to answer based upon the scant information you have provided. If the program was very small then a simple recompile in Windows would all that would be needed. I assume it is not simple so a lot of work would be needed to convert the parts not based in the standard code. Even if you provided more information that would not be enough. The only way to do the conversion is for somebody to do work on the actual source code. Since that could be very complex it is way beyond what can provided in a simple answer on these forums.

MisterEd said:

Your so called "simple question" is impossible to answer based upon the scant information you have provided. If the program was very small then a simple recompile in Windows would all that would be needed. I assume it is not simple so a lot of work would be needed to convert the parts not based in the standard code. Even if you provided more information that would not be enough. The only way to do the conversion is for somebody to do work on the actual source code. Since that could be very complex it is way beyond what can provided in a simple answer on these forums.

OK that's a fair answer to a naive question. I have to provide scant informtion to respect the privacy of the guy who has the Linux program (and source code.) I have been suitably chastened,

x509 said:

The program is actually closed code. I don't know much else about how it's designed or coded.

It is not closed code if the person who wrote it uses it. They have to have record or copy of the raw code before it got compiled. Python is easier to use cross-system than something coded for a particular OS.

bro67 said:

It is not closed code if the person who wrote it uses it. They have to have record or copy of the raw code before it got compiled. Python is easier to use cross-system than something coded for a particular OS.

OK, I'm not a developer so I'm not good with some of these terms. This guy does not publish his code in github or any other repository, and uses the term "closed."

Yet again in this thread, I stand corrected.

Geez, no more "doing a good deed" by starting a thread like this one,

Bree said:

Multi-platform software is quite common. You've not used GIMP, Firefox or LibreOffice then?

I know that, but i meant some person want to convert a linux program for themself to windows.
I use Gimp, but i still use an old Photoshop too as that has better filters and more advanced features even it is 10years older then Gimp. Libre office i also use, but it can not handle some MS-excel sheets, so i need MS-office only for those few sheets. Firefox i have used that one since 2014... and on linux since 2018..... Then i have a digital-ID card and that software only runs on Windows.
That is the only thing i need windows for.... and that sucks.... as i don't like windows newer then 8.1.... win10LTSC might be my solution to actually have a tiny chance liking windows again.