"There is out there somewhere a project that proposes
to make Windows plug-ins available to Linux browsers by firing up a
copy of WINE and running them there. I've seen some discussion of
this on KDE lists lately, and it strikes me as a not-very-good idea
for several reasons.
The first is that Linux is not Windows. The second is that WINE,
even if it worked reliably, which it doesn't, does not make Linux
into Windows. The third is that it's a mighty tall and rickety
stack of stuff that this project proposes to balance.
(In the same vein, the commercial products which encapsulate an
actual copy of Windows in a nice, safe, padded cell run under Linux
are also a little goofy. I once used VMWare to prove that it's
possible to run Microsoft Bob under Linux. This was for a book, and
I laughed loud and long as I did it. As a meaningless gesture, it
was nearly an art form. But if I really felt the need to run
Microsoft Bob, I'd run Windows until the treatment became effective
or the medication was adjusted.)"
