PAF using Linux

Discussions about PAF, PAF SDK, and the future of PAF.
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pbarrus
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PAF using Linux

#1

Post by pbarrus »

I just received a new computer with the Linux operating system for Christmas and want to be able to run PAF. It's also running the Ubuntu operating system. Has anyone been able to get PAF to work with Linux? Or, am I just out of luck?

Thank you,

Phyl
techgy
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#2

Post by techgy »

Phyl wrote:I just received a new computer with the Linux operating system for Christmas and want to be able to run PAF. It's also running the Obuntu operating system. Has anyone been able to get PAF to work with Linux? Or, am I just out of luck?

Thank you,

Phyl
Phyl,

As I don't use Linux I'm not what I would consider "all knowing". I do know that PAF itself hasn't been written for Linux. However, there may be other ways of getting it to run that I'm not aware of. You might want to do a search of the Internet for "PAF for Linux" and see what you find.

Others on this forum may have other suggestions.
russellhltn
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#3

Post by russellhltn »

Phyl wrote:It's also running the Obuntu operating system.
Um, is that Ubuntu? Anyway, check out this thread PAF will run under Wine.
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zarahemlite-p40
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PAF with Linux

#4

Post by zarahemlite-p40 »

You have two real good options available. Other options may exist, but as a user of PAF and Debian-derived Linux OS, these are the two best work-arounds I've found:
Once you get VIrtualBox installed, you can run ANY windows program (albeit I can't seem to get DVD's working). In all actuality, it still runs faster as a virtual machine than it does as the native OS. Good TImes.

-Tom
steph.younger
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#5

Post by steph.younger »

VirtualBox is a wonderful app. I love it. You should be aware that any virtual machine is going to be touchy about kernel upgrades tough, so read the ubuntu forums for suggestions to keep them running well. Also, if you want USB support, I think you still have to use the "closed source" (but still free) version available at the VirtualBox website (http://www.virtualbox.org/).

Wine is a much smaller solution, but it can be a little touchy to set up PAF. It's very important to use the "all languages" version and install the unicode font or your interface will be all kinds of funky. It's bigger than the "english only" version, but not enough to really worry about.

Here's the steps I used to make my PAF install work in Wine:
1) Enable the extra repositories
2) Install Wine
3) Download the PAF executable from:
http://ftp.ldscatalog.com/PAF5AllLangs.exe (it's also hidden on the PAF install disk, if you have one)
4) Start the PAF installer using Wine
5) Wine will probably allow the installer to indicate the default installation directory:
"C:\Program Files\FamilySearch\Paf5\..."
The instructions I have are a year old, but said to change the install directory to:
"z:\home\[username]\.wine\drive_c\Program Files\FamilySearch\Paf5\..." (I don't know why)
6) During installation, check the "International Unicode Font" checkbox

If you have several Windows apps that you want to use though, I'd lean toward VirtualBox; it takes a little education, but it's well worth it. And like Tom said: it's faster for me to run Windows as a VM than it is to run it as a native OS.

- Stephen
zarahemlite-p40
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#6

Post by zarahemlite-p40 »

Thanks! I was curious how to get PAF running under WINE.

USB drives can't be mounted like CD Drives?

Alternatively, data could be uploaded to an online repository (gmail account, windows live, adrive.com, etc.) and then accessed quickly in the virtual machine.
steph.younger
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#7

Post by steph.younger »

zarahemlite wrote:USB drives can't be mounted like CD Drives?
That used to be the case, although I haven't tried the OSE version recently, so I couldn't say for sure.
zarahemlite wrote:Alternatively, data could be uploaded to an online repository (gmail account, windows live, adrive.com, etc.) and then accessed quickly in the virtual machine.
This works very well. There's also a nice set of instructions out there somewhere (I can't seem to find them now) for mapping a folder so VB sees it as a network drive. It's pretty great.

Before I switched back to Windows (not by choice), my VB install had PAF, Rootsmagic & OpenOffice (not to mention the required antivirus and firewall) and a "network" drive where I kept documents and files so I could access them either using Ubuntu or Windows. I've never had any problems with it except when I updated the linux kernel, but there's a pretty easy script that updates the VirtualBox driver and restarts it, so it's been pretty smooth.

One thing that is really nice about VB is that it is (for most purposes) a Windows installation, so your applications are pretty smooth. There are still many applications that just won't run in WINE.
whitcomb-p40
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PAF 5 under WINE works well!

#8

Post by whitcomb-p40 »

With WINE 1.1.21 I have installed PAF 5 and have it running with no problems. I have only had it running for two months, and have not done a LOT with it, but it works "out of the box". Ancestrial Quest v 12.1 also works under WINE with no tweaks.

Or am I the only one with this success?
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marianomarini
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#9

Post by marianomarini »

I have PAF working on wine version 1.1.19.
The only thing I have to work with was: setting wine fonts!
La vita è una lezione interminabile di umiltà (Anonimo).
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rmrichesjr
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#10

Post by rmrichesjr »

If/when anyone has difficulties using PAF with Wine, the AppDB page, http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=1706, can be a good place to find How-To info, discussion of issues, etc. If/when issues come up, I'd appreciate a comment on that page.

The built-in help function in PAF 5 is not working well with current Wine development releases, but it has worked well with earlier releases. I'm not aware of any significant problems with fonts, as long as the PAF-supplied international unicode font is installed with PAF.
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