Run Mytabolites on Linux & MacOS
All the programs shared here (Mytabolites, LichenLabler, BCRWatcher) were originally written to run on Microsoft Windows, but they are relatively simple programs that can be emulated also to run on Linux and/or MacOS using a software called Wine.
On Linux, Wine can be installed directly, on MacOS, it is necessary to first install the software package manager called Homebrew. Detailed instructions how to use Homebrew & Wine to run programs on MacOS are available here.
We have installed and tested Mytabolites successfully on Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 64-bit.
Below installation instructions with screenshots. Instructions for MacOS will follow.
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Table of Contents:
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Install Wine on Linux Mint:
Open Software Manager and search for Wine:
Click and install Wine:
Install all necessary packages:
When the system asks for authorization, enter your password:
Once installed, launch Wine and follow the setup instructions; the program will create a virtual disk from which Windows programs can be executed:
When setup has finished, a Wine window opens from which Widows programs can be executed via drag-drop:
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Run Mytabolites on Linux Mint
For the program to work, extract all Mytabolites files into a folder, then drag Mytabolites.exe into the Wine window:
Wait for the program to be compiled …
… and executed; now you are ready to use Mytabolites:
When you want to run Mytabolites again, simply double-click Mytabolites.exe or create a shortcut on your desktop.
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Run Mytabolites regularly using a Shortcut in Linux Mint
First, create an autostart item in Wine by dragging and dropping Mytabolites.exe into autostart:
Then, to create the shortcut, open a text editor to create a text file on the desktop with the following content:
[Desktop Entry]
Exec=/usr/bin/q4wine-cli -p “Default” -d “autostart” -i “Mytabolites” %f
Icon=/home/herbarium/Mytabolites/icons/Wintabolites_Icon_solarized.jpg
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
GenericName=Mytabolites
Name=Mytabolites
Path=/home/herbarium/Mytabolites
StartupWMClass=Mytabolites.exe
Explanation of the Shortcut Configuration
The first line includes the startup parameters to use Wine to start the porgram:
Exec=/usr/bin/q4wine-cli -p “Default” -d “autostart” -i “Mytabolites” %f
Make sure the path, where the program is located is correct. In the example used here, the program files are in:
../home/herbarium/Mytabolites [‘herbarium’ is the computer name].
The program that is being executed using the shortcut is:
Mytabolites.exe
The icon associated with the program is in:
../home/herbarium/Mytabolites/icons/
The name of the icon file is:
Wintabolites_icon_solarized.jpg
This is what the file looks like:
Save the text file, name it ‘Mytabolites.desktop ‘.
Important:
For the text file to work as a shortcut, right-click the file and on the Permissions tab check “allow executing file as program“:
To change the icon for the shortcut, simply click on the icon on the Basic tab and select the icon you prefer (or leave it as is):
You are now ready to use Mytabolites in Linux. If you want to use any other programs in Linux (e.g., LichenLabler or BCRWatcher) follow the same instructions to add them to Wine and create different shortcuts for these programs.
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MacOS
Instructions to run Mytabolites in MacOS are similar, but to be able to install and run Wine, it is necessary to first install Homebrew; you can find more details here.
We have tested running Mytabolites via Wine on MacOS and confirm that it runs without issues. However, the installation routine is more complicated than on Linux and some MacOS versions may not support it. Detailed instructions will be shared as soon as I have access to a Mac to capture the screenshots for the tutorial.
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