Internet Access/Printing thru WINE

[mikec]

I'm pretty new to the Linux world all though I have a past 8-year networking background in Windows. I back in the Army and away from my free store of software and have been kicking around the idea of Linux for a few years and about to make the move. I have one issue that plagues me just a bit, in the Army I have ONE program that is VERY important and as with anything in the Army, they are set on one thing and that is Windows so they will not support anything else.

So I figure the program is small and simple and runs inside IE to download our digital forms and edit them, but can I get to the Interent thru WINE and can I print thru WINE? SHould be simple enough. Also does anyone know about Common Access Cards (CAC) I need to install a CAC card reader thru WINE so I can digitally sign my documents. I guess if I need to I will leave a small windows partion but don't want to.

[Dapper Dan]

Hi mikec and welcome! I would first download and install Firefox web browser (for Windows) and see if through it, you can do what you want. If you can, there is a good chance you can also do it while running Firefox inside of Linux.

I don't know anything at all about "CAC" but found this that might help...

[jayd512]

Just an extra thought to add to what Dapper suggested about Firefox. There is an add-on, found here, that is supposed to alter the way a browser 'looks' to a site. I've not used it, but it may be worth a shot.

Also, I use Windows at work, but browse with FF. Some of my work related sites are IE only. I found the IE Tabs add-on and it allows me access to said sites. It's not available to Linux machines, but maybe used in conjunction with Wine?

[mikec]

That is good info on the CAC card reader thanks.

I guess I should have given a little more details on that program for the forms, it is called Puredge Viewer. I've been doing some more searches and finding mixed reviews if it works under WINE (which looks common for almost all software, some can make it work and others can't). I'm also seeing this goes beyond the Army. I have found forums that go back to 2005 about Grants.gov using the same program and don't have support for other OS's. People were complaining they will have to pay Microsoft just to apply for a grant.

I guess I may become a WINE expert becouse I cannot live without my Diablo II and soon Diablo III

Hopfully over the next 2-weeks I'll have my first Linux machine up and going, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again

[i92guboj]

Internet and printing shouldn't be a problem.

Wine supports cups, so, as long as cups support your printer, wine will as well.