CrossOver Support - Community Forums

After "upgrading" to Ubuntu 17.04, I've had various problems. I tell everybody here to wait till later on that upgrade. But now I've done it, and CrossOver apps do not start. Launching Word or Excel, which used to work, has no visible effect.

Then I upgraded Crossover from 16.1 to 16.2. Still, no response.

In the XFCE pull down menu, there is a crossover item. That pops up a warning message, some shared libraries are missing:

Some errors may prevent CrossOver Linux from working correctly

• Missing 32bit libX11.so.6 library
• Missing 32bit libXext.so.6 library

It recommends installing those libraries, however they were already there.

$ sudo dpkg -i crossover_16.2.0-1.deb
[sudo] password for pauljohn:
(Reading database ... 456330 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack crossover_16.2.0-1.deb ...
Unpacking crossover:i386 (16.2.0-1) over (16.1.0-1) ...
Setting up crossover:i386 (16.2.0-1) ...
Processing triggers for doc-base (0.10.7) ...
Processing 1 changed doc-base file...
Registering documents with scrollkeeper...
pauljohn@delllap-16:~/LinuxDownloads/Crossover$ sudo apt-get install libx11-6:i386
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
libx11-6:i386 is already the newest version (2:1.6.4-3).
libx11-6:i386 set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
pauljohn@delllap-16:~/LinuxDownloads/Crossover$ sudo apt-get install libxext6:i386
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
libxext6:i386 is already the newest version (2:1.3.3-1).
libxext6:i386 set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
pauljohn@delllap-16:~/LinuxDownloads/Crossover$ uname -a
Linux delllap-16 4.10.0-19-generic #21-Ubuntu SMP Thu Apr 6 17:04:57 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
pauljohn@delllap-16:~/LinuxDownloads/Crossover$ sudo apt-get install libxext6
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
libxext6 is already the newest version (2:1.3.3-1).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
pauljohn@delllap-16:~/LinuxDownloads/Crossover$ sudo apt-get install libx11-6
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
libx11-6 is already the newest version (2:1.6.4-3).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
pauljohn@delllap-16:~/LinuxDownloads/Crossover$ cd /opt/

I have discovered the same problem. After upgrading to Ubuntu 17.04 I discovered the my QuestradeIQ Edge does not work any longer. I too upgraded Crossover to 16.2.0 hoping it would fix the problem but to no avail. Here is the output I got:

CrossOver Linux 16.2.0
Install location: /opt/cxoffice
64-bit OS
Desktop session: ubuntu
Window manager: Compiz
Locale: en_CA.UTF-8
Contents of /etc/os-release:
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="17.04 (Zesty Zapus)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 17.04"
VERSION_ID="17.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=zesty
UBUNTU_CODENAME=zesty
cxdiag output:
[MissingLibGphoto2Port]
"Level"="Suggest"
"Title"="Missing 32bit libgphoto2_port.so.10 library"
"Description"="Lets Windows applications access digital cameras."
[Properties]
"display.depth"="24"
[Properties]
"opengl.vendor"="Intel Open Source Technology Center"
[Properties]
"opengl.version"="3.0 Mesa 17.0.3"
[Properties]
"opengl.renderer"="Mesa DRI Intel(R) Bay Trail x86/MMX/SSE2"
[Properties]
"opengl.glsl_version"="1.30"

Any help on this matter would be appreciated as I just HATE having to go to Windows again just to read my stock market stuff.

"Some errors may prevent CrossOver Linux from working correctly

• Missing 32bit libX11.so.6 library

• Missing 32bit libXext.so.6 library".

• • are you running the Ubuntu 64bit ??
    presumably, you are indeed, and ./wine & Cx are both 32bit programs ATM

which means that you have to add 32bit support into your version of Ubuntu:
https://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/diag/missinglibx11
and
https://www.codeweavers.com/support/wiki/diag/missinglibxext

but, if those are currently installed & yet there is still an error message,
then you may need to add further 32bit architecture support:
'sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386'
followed by
'sudo apt-get update'
'sudo apt-get dist-upgrade'

• • this issue will continue, as even more people move to 64bit PCs.

I can report similar issues. I'm trying to install on a fresh copy of Ubuntu 17.04 and it left me with a somewhat broken system, going as far as killing all network access (!!), I believe it was due to selinux issues. Here is my log:

fog@amalfi:~$ sudo dpkg -i Downloads/crossover_16.2.0-1.deb 
[sudo] password for fog: 
Selecting previously unselected package crossover:i386.
(Reading database ... 266566 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../crossover_16.2.0-1.deb ...
Unpacking crossover:i386 (16.2.0-1) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of crossover:i386:
 crossover:i386 depends on libx11-6 | xlibs.
 crossover:i386 depends on libxext6 | xlibs; however:
  Package libxext6:i386 is not installed.
 crossover:i386 depends on libxi6; however:
 crossover:i386 depends on libfreetype6; however:
 crossover:i386 depends on libpng12-0 | libpng16-16; however:
 crossover:i386 depends on libcups2; however:
 crossover:i386 depends on liblcms2-2; however:
 crossover:i386 depends on libglu1-mesa; however:
 crossover:i386 depends on libxcursor1; however:
 crossover:i386 depends on libxrandr2; however:

dpkg: error processing package crossover:i386 (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for doc-base (0.10.7) ...
Processing 1 added doc-base file...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 crossover:i386
fog@amalfi:~$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libavahi-client3:i386 libavahi-common-data:i386 libavahi-common3:i386
  libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386 libdrm-amdgpu1:i386
  libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau2:i386 libdrm-radeon1:i386 libdrm2:i386
  libedit2:i386 libelf1:i386 libexpat1:i386 libffi6:i386 libfreetype6:i386
  libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386
  libglu1-mesa:i386 libgmp10:i386 libgnutls30:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386
  libhogweed4:i386 libidn11:i386 libk5crypto3:i386 libkeyutils1:i386
  libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386 liblcms2-2:i386 libllvm4.0:i386
  libnettle6:i386 libp11-kit0:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libpng16-16:i386
  libsensors4:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libsystemd0:i386 libtasn1-6:i386
  libtinfo5:i386 libtxc-dxtn-s2tc:i386 libx11-6:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386
  libxau6:i386 libxcb-dri2-0:i386 libxcb-dri3-0:i386 libxcb-glx0:i386
  libxcb-present0:i386 libxcb-sync1:i386 libxcb1:i386 libxcursor1:i386
  libxdamage1:i386 libxdmcp6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxi6:i386
  libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386 libxshmfence1:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386
Suggested packages:
  gnutls-bin:i386 krb5-doc:i386 krb5-user:i386 lm-sensors:i386
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libavahi-client3:i386 libavahi-common-data:i386 libavahi-common3:i386
  libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386 libdrm-amdgpu1:i386
  libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau2:i386 libdrm-radeon1:i386 libdrm2:i386
  libedit2:i386 libelf1:i386 libexpat1:i386 libffi6:i386 libfreetype6:i386
  libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386
  libglu1-mesa:i386 libgmp10:i386 libgnutls30:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386
  libhogweed4:i386 libidn11:i386 libk5crypto3:i386 libkeyutils1:i386
  libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386 liblcms2-2:i386 libllvm4.0:i386
  libnettle6:i386 libp11-kit0:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libpng16-16:i386
  libsensors4:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libsystemd0:i386 libtasn1-6:i386
  libtinfo5:i386 libtxc-dxtn-s2tc:i386 libx11-6:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386
  libxau6:i386 libxcb-dri2-0:i386 libxcb-dri3-0:i386 libxcb-glx0:i386
  libxcb-present0:i386 libxcb-sync1:i386 libxcb1:i386 libxcursor1:i386
  libxdamage1:i386 libxdmcp6:i386 libxext6:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxi6:i386
  libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386 libxshmfence1:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386
0 upgraded, 60 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/24.1 MB of archives.
After this operation, 200 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Extracting templates from packages: 100%
Selecting previously unselected package libxau6:i386.
(Reading database ... 270559 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../0-libxau6_1%3a1.0.8-1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libxau6:i386 (1:1.0.8-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libxdmcp6:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../1-libxdmcp6_1%3a1.1.2-1.1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libxdmcp6:i386 (1:1.1.2-1.1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libxcb1:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../2-libxcb1_1.11.1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libxcb1:i386 (1.11.1-1ubuntu1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libx11-6:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../3-libx11-6_2%3a1.6.4-3_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libx11-6:i386 (2:1.6.4-3) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libxext6:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../4-libxext6_2%3a1.3.3-1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libxext6:i386 (2:1.3.3-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libxi6:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../5-libxi6_2%3a1.7.9-1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libxi6:i386 (2:1.7.9-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libpng16-16:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../6-libpng16-16_1.6.28-1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libpng16-16:i386 (1.6.28-1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libfreetype6:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../7-libfreetype6_2.6.3-3ubuntu2.2_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libfreetype6:i386 (2.6.3-3ubuntu2.2) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libavahi-common-data:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../8-libavahi-common-data_0.6.32-1ubuntu1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libavahi-common-data:i386 (0.6.32-1ubuntu1) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libavahi-common3:i386.
Preparing to unpack .../9-libavahi-common3_0.6.32-1ubuntu1_i386.deb ...
Unpacking libavahi-common3:i386 (0.6.32-1ubuntu1) ...
dpkg: error processing package libselinux1:i386 (--configure):
 package libselinux1:i386 is not ready for configuration
 cannot configure (current status 'half-installed')
Errors were encountered while processing:
 libselinux1:i386
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
fog@amalfi:~$ sudo apt-get install --reinstall libselinux1:i386
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt --fix-broken install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 crossover:i386 : Depends: libcups2:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                  Depends: liblcms2-2:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                  Depends: libglu1-mesa:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                  Depends: libxcursor1:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                  Depends: libxrandr2:i386 but it is not going to be installed
                  Recommends: libnss-mdns:i386 but it is not going to be installed or
                              lib32nss-mdns:amd64 but it is not installable
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
fog@amalfi:~$ sudo apt --fix-broken install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  libavahi-client3:i386 libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386
  libdrm-amdgpu1:i386 libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau2:i386
  libdrm-radeon1:i386 libdrm2:i386 libedit2:i386 libelf1:i386 libexpat1:i386
  libffi6:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386
  libglu1-mesa:i386 libgmp10:i386 libgnutls30:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386
  libhogweed4:i386 libidn11:i386 libk5crypto3:i386 libkeyutils1:i386
  libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386 liblcms2-2:i386 libllvm4.0:i386
  libnettle6:i386 libp11-kit0:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libsensors4:i386
  libstdc++6:i386 libsystemd0:i386 libtasn1-6:i386 libtinfo5:i386
  libtxc-dxtn-s2tc:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386 libxcb-dri2-0:i386 libxcb-dri3-0:i386
  libxcb-glx0:i386 libxcb-present0:i386 libxcb-sync1:i386 libxcursor1:i386
  libxdamage1:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386
  libxshmfence1:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386
Suggested packages:
  gnutls-bin:i386 krb5-doc:i386 krb5-user:i386 lm-sensors:i386
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libavahi-client3:i386 libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386
  libdrm-amdgpu1:i386 libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau2:i386
  libdrm-radeon1:i386 libdrm2:i386 libedit2:i386 libelf1:i386 libexpat1:i386
  libffi6:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386
  libglu1-mesa:i386 libgmp10:i386 libgnutls30:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386
  libhogweed4:i386 libidn11:i386 libk5crypto3:i386 libkeyutils1:i386
  libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386 liblcms2-2:i386 libllvm4.0:i386
  libnettle6:i386 libp11-kit0:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libsensors4:i386
  libstdc++6:i386 libsystemd0:i386 libtasn1-6:i386 libtinfo5:i386
  libtxc-dxtn-s2tc:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386 libxcb-dri2-0:i386 libxcb-dri3-0:i386
  libxcb-glx0:i386 libxcb-present0:i386 libxcb-sync1:i386 libxcursor1:i386
  libxdamage1:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386
  libxshmfence1:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386
0 upgraded, 50 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
12 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/22.9 MB of archives.
After this operation, 196 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] Y
Extracting templates from packages: 100%
dpkg: error processing package libselinux1:i386 (--configure):
 package libselinux1:i386 is not ready for configuration
 cannot configure (current status 'half-installed')
Errors were encountered while processing:
 libselinux1:i386
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
fog@amalfi:~$

Fixed my issue with a simple:

$ sudo dpkg -i /var/cache/apt/archives/libselinux1_2.6-3_i386.deb

No idea why the above wouldn't work.

In case this is worth anything to anybody, and for no other reason.

I have tried a lot of Linux distros and always came back to Debian, mainly because of the rolling release cycle, meaning no need for bi-annual upgrades, which I realise is not isolated to Debian but Debian is also chock full of software choice options, without getting into compiling everything yourself. Debian stable (currently code name Jessie) does not have many kernel upgrades and generally they don't break anything.

One downside I have consistently found is that it rarely goes straight onto a system and functions "out of the box", which has the capacity to teach you a lot about the operating system, etc while you fix it. Or maybe you just want it to work sithout fiddling (as nearly as, that is) but with the Debian benefits. A while back I discovered Linux Mint with the Debian backend, also called LMDE2, which has the ease and functionality of Mint with the rolling release cycle of Debian, which makes many of these breakages a thing of the past.

Ubuntu users will have a very easy time, as Ubuntu uses many Debian packages (deb archives), and also apt package management tool, plus some GUI package management tools. I really like Cinnamon desktop too, though the laptop I am typing this on is old and has LXDE, which does everything I need and keeps many an old computer productive.

Roger Barnes wrote:

In case this is worth anything to anybody, and for no other reason.

I have tried a lot of Linux distros and always came back to Debian,
mainly because of the rolling release cycle, meaning no need for
bi-annual upgrades, which I realise is not isolated to Debian but
Debian is also chock full of software choice options, without
getting into compiling everything yourself. Debian stable (currently
code name Jessie) does not have many kernel upgrades and generally
they don't break anything.

I have heard that from a good number of people. One of the few distros I have actually NOT used. No good reason, since I have a pile of old machines that I can spare for the task. RHEL and SuSE have treated me so damn well with their product families too that I have had zero reason ... ever, to have to switch. Mind you Fedora and OpenSUSE I consider "in the family", respectively of course.

I think that is the conundrum these boutique and "My First Distro"'s are doomed to run into. But its also been the net that tends to keep people doing Linux. That said, I think Debian may be an easier starter distro than RHEL or Fedora, based on my observations and personal experience. Lack of good GUI package management tools out of the box are Red Hat's biggest flaw (F25's software center was quite impressive and disappointing at the same time). And Yast last I used it to manage zypper was great, but you could get into dep hell quite easily, something that my Debian friends never really run into, nor myself on RHEL/Fedora.

So there y'all go -- Three great distros to play with :D And yes EL7 is a great gaming platform with NVIDIA at least. Not sure about Intel or AMD GPUs.

I have heard a lot of people say 17.04 has a lot of issue's. I tend to stick with the lts releases like 16.04 there more stable and just work better 18.04 comes out next April as well it should be a good release.

You just have to install the i386 architecture support

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update

// And maybe this too, but I think they are installed automatically when installing crossover
sudo apt-get install libc6:i386 libncurses5:i386 libstdc++6:i386

// If you have already tried and failed to install crossover do this to fix dependencies
sudo apt-get -f install

Then install crossover again

I suppose as a contradictory point ... I was running Ubuntu 16.04, Crossover 16.2. Upgraded to Ubuntu 17.04, all Crossover applications remained functional. Upgraded Crossover to 17.0.0, still functional. -- no special OS/pkg level operations were required.

Matt Callaghan wrote:

I suppose as a contradictory point ... I was running Ubuntu 16.04,
Crossover 16.2. Upgraded to Ubuntu 17.04, all Crossover
applications remained functional. Upgraded Crossover to 17.0.0,
still functional. -- no special OS/pkg level operations were
required.

I suppose this may depend on what kind of distro you are using, including if it is 32 or 64 bits. If 64 bits, it may require the installation of some 32 bits packages. Also, I think people who use the graphical interface (i. e., by opening the .deb file with a file manager) are more prone to problems, because not all details in error messages may be displayed. It is very practical, but I stopped to use the GUIs and now only install programs by means of command-line and dpkg. Of course, this is VERY BAD, because CrossOver is supposed to make things easier for the average user, but the Graphical Desktops (KDE, etc.) may need to be perfected a little. These GUIs end up using dpkg, but they do not seem to handle problems with missing packages very well. User-friendlyness must be improved by automating these installation processes. Maybe the .bin installer could be better for average users.

Silvio M Kozasa wrote:

Matt Callaghan wrote:

I suppose as a contradictory point ... I was running
Ubuntu 16.04, Crossover 16.2. Upgraded to Ubuntu 17.04, all
Crossover applications remained functional. Upgraded Crossover to
17.0.0, still functional. -- no special OS/pkg level operations
were
required.

I suppose this may depend on what kind of distro you are using,
including if it is 32 or 64 bits. If 64 bits, it may require the
installation of some 32 bits packages. Also, I think people who use
the graphical interface (i. e., by opening the .deb file with a file
manager) are more prone to problems, because not all details in
error messages may be displayed. It is very practical, but I stopped
to use the GUIs and now only install programs by means of
command-line and dpkg. Of course, this is VERY BAD, because
CrossOver is supposed to make things easier for the average user,
but the Graphical Desktops (KDE, etc.) may need to be perfected a
little. These GUIs end up using dpkg, but they do not seem to handle
problems with missing packages very well. User-friendlyness must be
improved by automating these installation processes. Maybe the .bin
installer could be better for average users.

Matt,

You make a good point that the installer should gracefully let the user know if it requires packages (I have never had this problem, but I have also not installed 17.04 or 17.10 ... still using the LTS 16.04). I am not 100% certain of the exact difficulty of requesting specific package names relative to all the distributions of Linux and versions of each of those distributions. I do know it can ask for packages after installation, so it must be possible to do so.

What the other person was speaking to was that the title and premises of the OP is not necessarily correct, since they were able to upgrade and use it fine (read: the packages were probably already installed and perhaps were upgraded automatically).

Roger Barnes wrote:

In case this is worth anything to anybody, and for no other reason.

I have tried a lot of Linux distros and always came back to Debian,
mainly because of the rolling release cycle, meaning no need for
bi-annual upgrades, which I realise is not isolated to Debian but
Debian is also chock full of software choice options, without
getting into compiling everything yourself. Debian stable (currently
code name Jessie) does not have many kernel upgrades and generally
they don't break anything.

One downside I have consistently found is that it rarely goes
straight onto a system and functions "out of the box", which has the
capacity to teach you a lot about the operating system, etc while
you fix it. Or maybe you just want it to work sithout fiddling (as
nearly as, that is) but with the Debian benefits. A while back I
discovered Linux Mint with the Debian backend, also called LMDE2,
which has the ease and functionality of Mint with the rolling
release cycle of Debian, which makes many of these breakages a thing
of the past.

Ubuntu users will have a very easy time, as Ubuntu uses many Debian
packages (deb archives), and also apt package management tool, plus
some GUI package management tools. I really like Cinnamon desktop
too, though the laptop I am typing this on is old and has LXDE,
which does everything I need and keeps many an old computer
productive.

FYI, the LTS version of Ubuntu is almost always preferred for a desktop user relative to ANY version of Debian. You will get far more backports to an Ubuntu LTS than for Debian. I don't care what anybody says about Debian improving its release cycle. By the time of a Debian release, most of the software is >1 year in my experience (if not worse). Debian is great if you are on a server. It is fine on desktop if you don't mind very old versions of all the basic software. Actually, I started on Linux with Debian and learned a lot using it. Because all the major software I used was so old, I started compiling it from sources. This devolved to doing the same for necessary libraries... This gets problematic (especially for a newer user) as you can library version conflicts and other difficulties. After playing with this for 6 months, I moved to Ubuntu and have generally stayed with one version of Ubuntu or another (Kubuntu or Ubuntu).

TLDR; for simplicity and compatibility, I recommend people stay on at least an Ubuntu LTS for 2 years. I might recommend to people to stay on 16.04 longer than 2 years (... I will try to stay on 16.04 for 4 years... until 20.04). With all the support for SNAPS and PPAs on Ubuntu, there is not much reason to upgrade to the 6 month releases. Also, Ubuntu 16.04 is the last official Ubuntu LTS with Unity... and it works good (not a fan of Gnome Shell as of yet)!!

Silvio M Kozasa wrote:

Maybe the .bin installer could be better for average users.

The bin installer doesn't provide anything that the deb or rpm packages don't already provide. Although I do start it in a terminal, it ends up up being a graphical installer. Then there's the fact that unless root privileges is used, the bin file installs for the current user only. Could you imagine explaining that a 1000 times... And lastly, since the bin file doesn't use the package manager, it would only promote the lingering "windows habit" of installing without the package manager.

I wouldn't recommend the bin file for the average user.

J-P Simard wrote:

Silvio M Kozasa wrote:

Maybe the .bin installer could be better for average
users.

The bin installer doesn't provide anything that the deb or rpm
packages don't already provide. Although I do start it in a
terminal, it ends up up being a graphical installer. Then there's
the fact that unless root privileges is used, the bin file installs
for the current user only. Could you imagine explaining that a 1000
times... And lastly, since the bin file doesn't use the package
manager, it would only promote the lingering "windows habit" of
installing without the package manager.

I wouldn't recommend the bin file for the average user.

Good point. I was asking myself why dpkg wouldn't recommend the packages to install... doesn't it "fail to install" but give a message use 'apt-get -f install' to complete installation?

I agree with you both. I don't like to use the .bin installer, too. But since the GUIs for dpkg don't handle missing packages very well automatically (it is not easy to do so, because you can't be sure what each user would really want) and we probably can't do much about this, there would be a not so complex solution for Codeweavers: to make the .bin installer automatically recognize the distro and if it is 32 or 64 bits. Then, if it is Ubuntu or Debian or another fork, download and use a .deb file. If it is Fedora, RHEL, etc., download the .rpm. With other distros, download the generic .bin installer. In any case, the initial installer should detect any usual missing packages and install them automatically first. I believe it can be done and is worth the effort. Of course the .deb and .rpm should continue to be available in the downloads area so that more advanced users could download them directly. The initial installer could be labeled: "use this one if you are not sure what to do".

Silvio M Kozasa wrote:

Of course the .deb and .rpm should continue to be available in the
downloads area so that more advanced users could download them
directly. The initial installer could be labeled: "use this one if
you are not sure what to do".

Great idea!! Label one 'For beginning users' and the other 'For advanced users only'