I am wondering if I can boot ubuntu 18.04 on a ssd and use files from a 2TB hdd in ubuntu 16.04. or must I use a dual boot which would defeat my purpose.? The reason I ask is that I have a few programs that only open in WINE, this is all good on 16.04 but I am unable to install it on 18.04. Any help would be appreciated, with directions on how to do it. Regards, Rod.....
2 Answers
Two stock installs of Ubuntu, 16.04 and 18.04, use the same filesystem (ext4). Both installs will be able to read and write ext4 filesystems equally well.
Files written by one can be read (and written) by the other.
However, couple caveats: If you installed special software to use a different filesystem, then obviously it must be installed on both. Also, reading is not the same as executing. Some executable applications must be recompiled for different releases of Ubuntu (the other system would read meaningless jibberish), but others do not.
Generally, Wine itself is Ubuntu-version-specific. You will find it difficult to run older Wine on newer Ubuntu, and the reverse is true also. But the Windows applications do not change, and should be compatible with most versions of Wine.
I think it might be worth to ask on wine forums how to fix your wine setup on Ubuntu 18. Meanwhile you can still boot on Ubuntu 16.
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OK I will go and find a wine forum. Thank you for your assistance. Jul 21, 2019 at 10:50
evolution
or gnome's MUA), it caused changes in the shared data file that created issues for the older release (that saw those as invalid data files). I learnt how to work around the issues, but it wasn't 'fun'. Wine programs are usually old, but programs can change which causes their data to reflect the change...