light version of wine

Are there light version of wine ? I use it only for installing an executable file of windows under linux, donot use it for installing game. Why I want a light version of it is because I am not confortable with intalling 208.2 mb wine to my poor computer.

Note : I am using ubuntu 10.04

2 Answers

Why I want a light version of it is because I am not confortable with intalling 208.2 mb wine to my poor computer.

The 208.2 MB includes the base Wine framework necessary to run any Windows application or installer, no matter how small or large. You risk your application not running or installing if you don't install the base framework. You can try removing any -doc packages, etc. after your application in installed and running fine.

Briefly, no, there isn't a "light" version of Wine.

If disk space is a constraint to you, I would consider using wine-staging version 2.21 (or any version around that period, November 2017) Below is the detailed procedure for how to MANUALLY install OLDER versions of Wine on Debian/Ubuntu-based distros.

Installing older/different versions of Wine than the latest ones from the repositories in Debian/Ubuntu system is a pain in the rear extremity.

Plan B: consider hopping over to Manjaro, if it's possible for you to do so. Why? Because the Manjaro version of the Wine package comes bundled IN A SINGLE PACKAGE, and you install it using A SINGLE COMMAND:

sudo pacman -U /local_path/wine-staging-5.1-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
or, in the case you miss dependencies..
sudo pacman -Sy /path/wine...
(I think that's the command... I'm not in Manjaro right now,
the Sy command will download the dependencies for you
WITHOUT performing a full system upgrade, only the packages you need...
pacman -U is the equivalent of sudo dpkg -i , for manual install)

OK. If hopping over to Arch/Manjaro is NOT a possibility for you, these below are the steps for MANUALLY installing older versions of Wine on Debian/Ubuntu-based distros:

1. Let's say you want to install Wine version 4.1 (one of the last versions of Wine before the Wineprefix size increased from 100 MB straight to 600 MB, without no additional benefits and no avoidance of the usual bugs from the last 10 years...)
   Go to
   and download all packages that have 4.1 in their name (they should have the same Date to them)

In the case of Wine 4.1 (the version that I've found to be the optimal one) these are the packages you need. You always will need FIVE packages in total.

winehq-staging_4.1_buster_amd64.deb
wine-staging_4.1_buster_amd64.deb
wine-staging_4.1_buster_i386.deb
wine-staging-amd64_4.1_buster_amd64.deb
wine-staging-i386_4.1_buster_i386.deb

2. Installation order. Here comes the tricky part, after you do it the 1st time it should be easier the next times. First, you install the biggest i386 package, always. Then, you install the small i386 package. Then, install the big amd64 package, and the small amd64 package. The last to be installed should be winehq (which only comes in amd64 form)

Below is a copy of my bash history with the order of commands I used to do this in shortest time.

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
sudo dpkg -i /path/wine-staging-i386_4.1_buster_i386.deb
sudo apt-get install -f
sudo dpkg -i /path/wine-staging_4.1_buster_i386.deb
sudo apt-get install -f
sudo dpkg -i /path/wine-staging-amd64_4.1_buster_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f
sudo dpkg -i /path/wine-staging_4.1_buster_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f
sudo dpkg -i /path/winehq-staging_4.1_buster_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f
sudo apt-get update
...
winecfg <used to create the initial Wine prefix>
<use these ones below to reassure that you have all libs installed correctly>
...
WINEPREFIX=~/.wine32 WINEARCH=win32 winecfg <to test if 32-bit is working OK>
WINEPREFIX=~/.wine64 WINEARCH=win64 winecfg <to test if 64-bit is working OK>
<you should not see errors in the terminal of the type
"but the wrong architecture is being used" >

Notice how you need to run

sudo apt-get install -f 

every single time each package is installed. That will guarantee that the individual dependencies to each package are installed and configured, before you install the next package. (this is only needed the 1st time you do this... after that, you can put all these dependencies, store them in a Backup location, and install them all-at-once using sudo dpkg -i /path/*.deb )

3. Sometimes, and I don't understand why this happens, you won't be able to use Wine 64 bits, or you won't be able to use Wine 32 bits, one of the two. If that happens, simply re-install one of the big Wine packages again (depending if you need amd64 or i386)

   sudo dpkg -i /path/wine-staging-amd64_4.1_buster_amd64.deb

It's very unfortunate that Wine has been distributed like this on Debian/Ubuntu system, it's an overcomplicated process with a lot of time wasted. The way Manjaro does it should become the official way Wine is distributed from now on.