ecu tuning on linux?

i posted in the off topic forum about this but essentially windows is not safe anymore and i am not switching back, are there any linux users here and if so, whats the linux support look like?

it doesnt seem like haltech or tunerpro (& tunerpro rt) support linux, would it be possible to persuade haltech for example, to make a linux version of their software?

I'm not sure if this will help or not, as I'm not super familiar with Linux, and I'm certainly no IT expert. I know a few guys who use it, though more for software programming rather than tuning. I've been told that you can run a windows "shell" on modern versions of Linux, that should allow you to run Windows based ".exe" files/programs, without the security risks of running Windows as your base OS. Another option is to setup a virtual machine within Linux that runs a virtual windows OS. It can separate your main machine from the windows based software running in the virtual space. My company uses VMWare virtual machines on our computers as a way for us to install "untrusted" software on our machines without the same level of risk that you run by keeping it on the main machine. We are only allowed a very small number of programs that we can install, through a very specific portal. However, we sometimes have to use/install software that isn't supported by the company's IT department, so they give us the virtual machines on our laptops to protect the company from another cyber attack, in the event that someone installs something they shouldn't.

kenny thanks for that, i already know about VMs etc but i am trying to completely get rid of microsoft and windows from my life, so im not sure running a windows vm would be too helpful, in saying that though, i do know of a program used on linux called "wine" which from my understanding basically does something similar (i think, not too sure though) to what you said with the windows "shell" thing. where it allows you to run some windows .EXEs, however i have seen videos of it having issues getting some things to run so i was hoping there might have been some linux support out of the box for the various tuning software out there, could you ask your guys who use linux if they know if i can run a .msi file with wine? i think thats my main issue with software like haltech or tunerpro; the give an .msi file, not exe. and im just not knowledgeble enough to figure it out just yet

I'm certainly not a fanboy and routinely use various 'nix machines but to be clear - Windows will be as 'safe' as you allow it to be for the most part. If you're that concerned put zero personal information on it and never attach the machine to the internet.

david i hear what youre saying and i wish it was as simple as that.. im not talking about safe in terms of malware im talking about safe from microsoft forcefully installing spyware without us knowing and with no way to turn it off, especially with recall and copilot ive just had enough. the issue with linux imo though is the lack of app dev support.

im also not a next level privacy paranoid schizo either, just a regular guy who cares about SOME level of privacy. in that case its quite counter productive to just never connect my machine to the internet, unless i maybe run w10 in a heavily locked down vm, but even then i still need to connect it to the internet at some point to install the tuning software mainly because they give .MSI files instead of .EXE directly.

if we got the devs to put some effort into making their software compatible with linux whether that be through something like wine or a whole version dedicated to the various distros i think that would be awesome, though thinking about it from the devs perspective, it doesnt make sense to create and then maintain dedicated linux versions because the demand for it is just not there- and i fully understand it. instead of all that work though, and i want to put it out there i have no idea how a program like wine works, perhaps making the .EXE work with wine "out of the box" would be the best way to go about this task.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12aGhsjBlo

There are tools for extracting MSI files on Linux. Such as MSITOOLS. So, for that part you can technically do that without windows. Then maybe running Wine to allow you to run the exe files will keep you from needing to use any windows OS at all.

you might want to consider a slower migration to Linux if you’re not super familiar with it yet. Maybe setup a hard drive on your computer to let you dual-boot and select the OS initially, see what you can and can’t do on Linux, and make your choice on which direction to move from there?

kenny.... i jumped ship fully ages ago, without practising at all first and doing so i realise the importance of having a VM (or similar) to mess around with things first; ive had to re install the os more than once. the reason i havent really spent time learning linux, and my distro, is i only really use my pc for youtube but i am looking to learn more, i would appreciate any tips or videos or resources you might be able to link here for me to further my proficiency, also thanks for mentioning msitools, will look into it