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You Can Now Install the Windows Calculator App on Linux


steven36

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Want to use the Windows calculator app on your Linux desktop? Well, now you can.

 

This unexpected app port is arrives courtesy of the Uno Platform. They took the source code for Windows’s default Calculator app (which Microsoft made open source last year) and got it up and running on Linux desktops.

 

And the resulting app is called Uno Calculator since they can’t use the Windows brand name. It’s available to install from the Snap Store which means it’s available to tonnes of users across tonnes of distros.

 

The Uno Platform is a “code once, run everywhere” type effort. It lets developers to build native mobile and desktop apps using C# and XAML and have them effortlessly adapt to look, feel, and fit in on all the operating systems/devices the dev wants to target.

 

On Linux Uno Platform apps make use of the Skia rendering engine to draw the UI and integrate into the Ubuntu desktop with a regular GTK frame. “And it’s all open-source, built on the Mono Project,” Ubuntu explain.

 

 

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It’s very good with numbers

 

But back to the Windows Calculator app — is it worth using on Linux?

 

Microsoft pitches its calendar as “…a modern Windows app written in C++ [that] provides standard, scientific, and programmer calculator functionality, as well as a set of converters between various units of measurement and currencies.”

 

It’s those ‘conversion’ functions that I think most will find useful. Ubuntu’s default calculator app (GNOME Calculator) is enough for most needs, but lacks some of those additional unit and currency functions. Qt app Qalculate is the closest analogous tool available natively.

 

But this port is perhaps better seen as a proof of concept; a flex of the Uno Platform and what it can allow developers to do.

 

If you’re interested in trying the Calculator out — be it for novelty or practicality — head on over to the Snap Store to get it Here

 

Alternatively, pop open a terminal and run:

sudo snap install uno-calculator --beta

 

Ubuntu says it’s planning to work with the Uno Platform community to bring more off-world apps to Linux system.

 

Source

 

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 It lets developers to build native mobile and desktop apps using C# and XAML and have them effortlessly adapt to look, feel, and fit in on all the operating systems/devices the dev wants to target.

 

only this part. Awesome!

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Uno project is The first and only UI Platform for single-codebase applications for Windows, WebAssembly, iOS, macOS, Android and Linux

 

Target All Operating Systems & Browsers

The only open source-platform for creating true single-source, multi-platform applications. Reuse 99% of the business logic and UI layer across native mobile, web and desktop.

 

https://platform.uno/how-it-works/

 

Windows calculator app  is pretty  cool  but it's just  a scenario in which a GUI application built with traditional Microsoft technologies runs natively on Ubuntu and Raspberry Pi. Before  this on  they done  Uno Platform IoT Sample App for Linux.

 

They also made  Uno Gallery for smart phones

 

 

Also they done Hinge angle sensor for Uno Platform dual-screen apps for Surface Duo Android and Surface Neo windows 10x not even out  to the public yet.

 

Since  Qalculate! is snap  or flatpac   this Windows calculator is just as good if you  need one with a little more  bells and whistles than   Gnome calculator.  But Gnome apps are meant to be that way  there keep it simple stupid apps , I prefer  QT apps  over Gnome  any day but i rather use  Gnome than bolted Electron apps.

 

They most used Cross Platform kits are Java , QT  and Electron  . another  one just made Cross Platform was Swift . Qt is the lightest  of the most used ones. For me to use Electron it has to do something  i cant get from a webpage  because if  i can use it in a browser  i can make my own webapp  with ICE SSB.

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11 hours ago, steven36 said:

On Linux Uno Platform apps make use of the Skia rendering engine to draw the UI and integrate into the Ubuntu desktop with a regular GTK frame. “And it’s all open-source, built on the Mono Project,” Ubuntu explain.

 

The Mono Project has multiple security vulnerabilites and users should be wary of them.

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Not sure how risky it is to have mono installed, but there are indeed some risks to open linux to attacks directed to win, mostly in the cross-platform world.

 

Quote

Don't install Wine or Mono in your Linux
3. The security overview above, applies to a "clean" Linux without Windows emulators like Wine, PlayOnLinux and CrossOver.

Those emulators are used to run Windows software in Linux. It's better not to install such Windows emulators, because they make your Linux partially vulnerable to Windows malware.

If you need to use Windows applications, then you could use a free legal Virtual Machine with Windows for that, or (if you have a dual boot computer) an ordinary Windows.

The same objection is valid for the Mono infrastructure, albeit to a lesser degree. Mono also makes your system partially vulnerable to malware that targets Windows, because it's cross-platform (like Java).

In Linux Mint and Ubuntu, Mono will be installed automatically whenever you install an application that needs the Mono infrastructure, like media player Banshee and notes app Tomboy. I advise to avoid those and install non-Mono based alternatives instead.

Here's how to make sure you don't have Mono in your system:

Launch a terminal window.
(You can launch a terminal window like this: *Click*)

Type (copy/paste):

sudo apt-get remove mono-runtime-common

Press Enter. Type your password when prompted. In Ubuntu this remains entirely invisible, not even dots will show when you type it, that's normal. In Mint this has changed: you'll see asterisks when you type. Press Enter again.

This command completely removes both the Mono infrastructure and the applications that depend on it, which you'll see happening in the terminal output when it's being executed.

https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/security.html#ID3

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3 hours ago, mp68terr said:

Not sure how risky it is to have mono installed, but there are indeed some risks to open linux to attacks directed to win, mostly in the cross-platform world.

 

The link you post is a opinion piece  and not  wrote based  on any research  or facts. it tells  you not to have  a antivirus to scan  windows programs  before you use them in  wine or crossover  is bad advice  . That why they have antivirus  on Linux  so you can scan windows programs and stuff shared  with windows , Crossover scans  the windows programs   for viruses  with Clam my opensource antivirus when i install them .  Only  Antivirus is dangerous  if you  give it root on Linux . Also it tell you not to use  Wine because it can run windows  malware  while some malware run in wine it  need  other  things Linux dont have to execute  the payloads for it to work.

 

Here is were  they tested Virus with Wine  it never works most of the time to infect  Linux

https://www.linux.com/news/running-windows-viruses-wine/

 

r3qpkW4.png

 

Most virus and malware  in recent  years like Wantacry   needs a hole in windows to infect the system it exploits  a certain  something only windows have the more  they patch  againt it in Windows  the harder  it is for them to find a way in.

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There are likely two ways, having an AV to scan win programs or having none of win-related programs. In the second case, why having an AV to scan win since there is no win-related stuff around?

AFAIK, the link refers to a configuration where all win-related stuff has been removed.

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15 minutes ago, mp68terr said:

There are likely two ways, having an AV to scan win programs or having none of win-related programs. In the second case, why having an AV to scan win since there is no win-related stuff around?

AFAIK, the link refers to a configuration where all win-related stuff has been removed.

Your link  based on a old myth  back when  Linux users  hated  M$  because of the 1990s patient  wars M$  had with Linux so they spread non factual  info that running anything from Windows is bad on Linux .  If M$  didn't make it  or if they open source it  and it has nothing to do with  using there services it not bad  it can't  spy on you . Your more  likely  to get infected  with real Linux malware than getting  infected with Windows Malware on Linux.  Put your tinfoil hat away.  Wine  is how  Linux  users play windows games in the present . the 1990s was the past. It better  for them to use Wine  to play games than use  Google Stadia  in there browser were Google is  harvesting there  data.

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12 minutes ago, steven36 said:

Your more  likely  to get infected  with real Linux malware than getting  infected with Windows Malware on Linux.  Put your tinfoil hat away.  Wine  is how  Linux  users play windows games in the present .

Moved to linux years ago and the app I still like to run under win is in a vm. Same goes for tests of win apps. No game here. No win-related stuff in my linux config.

Agree with "Your more  likely  to get infected  with real Linux malware than getting  infected with Windows Malware on Linux.". Would you recommend Clam AV for linux then?

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2 hours ago, mp68terr said:

Moved to linux years ago and the app I still like to run under win is in a vm. Same goes for tests of win apps. No game here. No win-related stuff in my linux config.

Agree with "Your more  likely  to get infected  with real Linux malware than getting  infected with Windows Malware on Linux.". Would you recommend Clam AV for linux then?

I dont recommend anything  or even for Windows users to switch to Linux . I just  put it out there as  a choice . They other AVs  on Linux  others i tired wanted root so that was dangerous  so  i didnt use  it Clam  never ask for root . Another thing you can try is running programs  in Fire Jail  it sandboxes  native programs.  Also Snaps  and FlatPac  are already sanboxed  like  that Windows calculator app  is sandboxed  away from the rest of linux   because it's snap.   Its like I told people the  other day you have a choice  to buy new hardware to keep using Windows 10 because hardware vendors are not going support closed drivers or you can use Linux  with your old hardware and have open driver support. Its just  a choice  they have to make is all  one day.  If you  dont handle lots of  windows files maybe you dont need a antivirus  it's your choice.

 

 

I believe  in freedom  as  in freedom  to use whatever  you  want if something is wrong with it it will  come back on the  people who  make it one day . And freedom as in free software and open source. But i dont see nothing  wrong  with using closed source if they  no opensource  alternative  to it. Some Closed Source  Stuff like dbpoweramp i use in crossover  because it better than the Linux alternatives . Same as all the old games i have  back then they didn't make games  for Linux like  they do now.

 

PS: I don't like running  VM it just bogs down my system  and i cant afford to buy the new hardware i need  so it want,  ether I use  windows  stuff  in crossover  or i boot into windows or i dont use it at all . I dont have to have windows  programs and games i just have them because it's a option . I  ween myself off windows programs  some years  back. I went  long periods of time without them  to the point it was some years  i only used Linux program.  And  just because I have crossover now  after years of no windows programs  dont mean  i launch it very often because I don't because for what i do online i really don't need Windows programs.

 

Most stuff windows  have is totally  useless  to me because  we have cross platform and native aps that do the same thing some even do better .A example    like  apps to to download from YouTube  i have like  4 that is opensource  and is native some are cross platform  ,Video players and Audio Players   Linux has  some great ones .  

 

Apps that use services  we have those  on Linux too  and the ones it don't have I can make my own WebApps .Since  i can make my own webapps i have way more choices  than Windows users  will  ever have . Windows  is just now experimenting with PWA . They want never  have many webapps for piracy  like on  Android  or if  you make them  yourself on Linux .Even IOS  don't have them  because its closed source  and regulated.

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It was like when  Peta came  out  it used part of  the Eternal Blue virus and classic SMB network spreading techniques in the  (Win SMB protocol ). Linux had  something  Similar CVE-2017-7494 EternalRed  in  Samba (this was patched in 2017).  SambaCry vulnerability. But  they  only used it  to hijack Linux  with crypto miners  it was  not used for ransomware  like Peta  and Wantacry was  but miners  being spread  is annoying  but  they profit from using your CPU  not by holding your shit ransom .:lmao:

sources:

http://willgenovese.com/eternalred-cve-2017-7494/

https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/59930/hacking/sambacry-miner-campaign.html

 

But Peta  would  not run in wine  without putting  it in wine and running  wine with sudo (root) because it's needs  to change  MBR   With "wine" it can not change your MBR (unless you run the wine using sudo). :clap:

source

https://askubuntu.com/questions/930083/how-can-the-petya-ransomware-virus-affect-linux-users

 

The only time  i run root is  got to do  with  adding  programs   updating Linux kernel  or changing stuff in the filesystem  and then  i close it out  back to non root or reboot.  I never  use root to run programs  like people on windows do .  So your  more likely  get hit  with Linux malware  than Windows Malware .

 

Since I been using Linux the worse things  i seen was they was using  fake Kodi addons  to spread crypto miners but they  had a windows  version of it too. Eset disclosed  it but i already knew about it  because i used Eset  and Kodi  and it flagged  it . That why you can't trust closed source security software vendors  to share there  database with others . They investigated  it for like a year before disclosing it. Github  was hosting the exploit.:dance:

 

And a supply  chain  attack on Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon but  the infected ISO  with Linux Malware  was removed from  the server very fast.  it was not like CC Cleaner on windows were went on for a long time and Antivirus  didn't even pick it up  tell after  they found it.

 

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12 hours ago, zookini said:

 

The Mono Project has multiple security vulnerabilites and users should be wary of them.

Wrong dude  only  old versions  have them  ,  when ever they find them  they patch  them . Your Distro ,Wine    and crossover  will patch  it

Source: https://www.mono-project.com/docs/about-mono/vulnerabilities/

 

I doubt  they made the app in the opening post  since it's new with a unpatched version and they will update it  if anything new arises .  All software  has security vulnerabilities  tell it gets patched does this mean we should  not  use software in general ? :dance2:

 

Most of the bugs  in real old versions of Mono  was cause by  Moonlight  An open-source implementation of Microsoft Silverlight  that project was abandoned  in 2012  .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_(runtime)

Now  Linux use Google DRM in the browses and Kodi  instead

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