Port to OS/390 mainframe USS?

[James Hatheway]

Hello James,


>     I am not real clear about the difference between the PE loader and the
> WINELIB, but then, I am also unclear as to why my user would want to run a
> Windows app on the mainframe in the first place.

Sorry, I should have been a bit more descriptive with my answer.
The PE loader is used to run executable files that were compiled to
be executed in Windows/intel environment (standard windows apps).
It handles the 'magic' of loading a windows executable
including the necessary dependecy checking, dynamic link library loading,
etc.  Once the executable is loaded and all dependecies to DLLs
resolved and loaded the program is started and runs with the same
intel code that would have executed in windows.  Whenever the app makes
a call to a Windows API function, the code actually is handled by
WINE code (or the native windows DLLs if that is the user's
configuration)  That is why WINE is not an 'emulator' rather a
reimplementation of the Windows API. That is also why it is tied
to the intel platform, since it is still directly executing intel code.

Since WINE is comprised mainly of a reimplementation of the Windows
API, it can also be used as a porting library for application developers.
WineLib allows a developer to recompile his Windows source so that
it will run on other unix platforms (including other CPU architectures
than intel). The problem is that not as much work goes into the WineLib
side of WINE than does go into the mainstream WINE side of things.
My understanding is that WineLib has been built on Solaris/Sparc,
powerpc, and s390 with varying degrees of success.  Also I don't
know if the patches that got these platforms to build are actually
in the main CVS tree.  Searches through past WineHQ discussions
can bring up the names of those who worked on this stuff.

So, unless your user has access to the source code to his app, he
can't use WINE to run his app on the S390.  I'm not sure if WineLib
has advanced enough to support his app on the S390, and in fact Wine
itself might not support his app on intel either, that is a case by
case thing. (although WINE works quite well for a lot of apps)
Finally I have no idea why a user would want to run a windows app on
a s390. ^_^

> Is there someone at Ulrich that I should be talking to?

Ulrich is a person: Ulrich Weigand.  He subscribes to the mailing list
so I am sure he saw your message.  You can get his email address from the
mail list archives.


-James
--
James Hatheway
Software Designer - Macadamian Technologies, Inc.
james at macadamian.com ~ http://www.macadamian.com

  "Man könnte froh sein, wenn die Luft so rein wäre wie das Bier"
  "One could be happy if the air were as pure as the beer"