Bottles is pretty great for easy setup and configuration of Wine prefixes, but it doesn't fix the underlying issues with Wine (or the various other available flavors). I have tried many different combinations of Wine, Proton, Caffe, Soda, etc. and various configurations to setup SwordSearcher. In my experience, nothing gets it working up to 100% on Linux. As Brandon has mentioned, until the underlying problems with MSHTML in Wine are cleared up, Windows is still the best option for full SwordSearcher functionality. Don't get me wrong, I am all in on Linux, but it isn't the answer for everything.
Guide to Running SwordSearcher on Linux Operating Systems (Updated June 2024)
- Thread starter Brandon Staggs
- Start date
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- Tags
- linux linux ubuntu wine
Arcanemuse
Active Member
- Messages
- 33
I concur. I use both Logos and Accordance as well and attempts to get both of those running on Linux have not been stellar to say the least. With those two, my choice has either been to suffer through using Windoze or go back to Mac. I no longer have any money left and can't afford to shell out 2000 for a new Mac to run those programs. My 5 year old PC with the updates I've done to it is still doing well enough and Swordsearcher needs Windoze to run. I am pretty much stuck with Windoze on my main machine. I've got a couple of laptops running 11 but everything else is running some flavor of Linux. Swordsearcher will run on a Linux machine but it has a few foibles. It will do if you have no other way handy of running it. Most everything works.
Ruthlyn
Beta Tester
- Messages
- 912
I'll have to try that... thank you
There is a potential solution to running SwordSearcher on a Linux computer that has already been mentioned, but I hadn't tried it before now. I decided to build a Windows 11 virtual machine with KVM/QEMU. Something I did not realize is that an unregistered (i.e. no paid license) Windows 11 Pro can be used indefinitely with minimal restrictions. On Windows 11 Pro You don't even need a Microsoft account during setup. Just click on the "Sign in options" link and select "Domain join instead" and it will set up the traditional local user. The only real restriction is that you cannot "Personalize" it, meaning you cannot set the wallpaper, dark/light theme, etc. You can install any programs you want. If buying a Windows license to run one program was a barrier, this bit of info should help get past it. It did for me.
Obviously this solution still comes with the intrusiveness that is built into Windows. If the barrier is based on principle, this solution may not be the answer. That said, there are a few Windows debloat tools out there now that mitigate most of the problems that come with installing Windows. Take a look at these:
Chris Titus' Ultimate Windows Utility https://christitus.com/windows-tool/
Raphire's Win11Debloat https://github.com/raphire/win11debloat
I presonally use Raphire's tool. There are many others out there and I must remind you to use any tools that execute scripts on your machine at your own risk.
This is a fairly technical solution, so it requires some research and patience, but in my experience, it works well. Keep in mind it also requires extra resources (disk space, CPU, RAM) that lower-end computers may not have to spare. If you have a decently powerful PC and the time to put into setting up Windows with KVM/QEMU, it may be worth taking a look.
Obviously this solution still comes with the intrusiveness that is built into Windows. If the barrier is based on principle, this solution may not be the answer. That said, there are a few Windows debloat tools out there now that mitigate most of the problems that come with installing Windows. Take a look at these:
Chris Titus' Ultimate Windows Utility https://christitus.com/windows-tool/
Raphire's Win11Debloat https://github.com/raphire/win11debloat
I presonally use Raphire's tool. There are many others out there and I must remind you to use any tools that execute scripts on your machine at your own risk.
This is a fairly technical solution, so it requires some research and patience, but in my experience, it works well. Keep in mind it also requires extra resources (disk space, CPU, RAM) that lower-end computers may not have to spare. If you have a decently powerful PC and the time to put into setting up Windows with KVM/QEMU, it may be worth taking a look.
Ruthlyn
Beta Tester
- Messages
- 912
Can this be used to set up windows 10?
Yes, but Windows 10 support ended in October 2025. That means no more security updates. It will work, but it will become increasingly risky to use for anything internet related as time goes by. It has been awhile since I have installed Windows 10. I don't remember if it requires internet access for installation. If it does, you could install it with network enabled and then disable network after running initial updates.