Compatibility improvements: WINE packages in the Snap store?

If you've been browsing the Snapcraft.io web or the Ubuntu app store, you've probably noticed one thing. There are names of applications that include in the designation (WINE). For example, as aniFIX or as AnyTuner. Some programs of which I will not go into detail what they are for, because that is not what interests me.

As you know, it's about snap packages universal and that can be installed very easily in any distribution. But the goal of this article is to highlight what that guy tagged with the word WINE in parentheses means. I think it also goes without saying that it refers to the compatibility layer to allow native Microsoft Windows software to run on * nix systems ...

Well, if you analyze either of those two program cited above, it can be seen that they are programs that are available for some platforms, among which Linux is not. For example, in the case of Anitune, it is available for iOS, Android, macOS and also for Windows. So ... what makes this package available for Linux?

Well that is where I was going, and that is that there are some cases, like these, of native programs for Windows that are packaged under snap, for a quick and easy installation in the distros, but making use of WINE to make them compatible with the penguin platform.

Something that, in a way, is reminiscent of what Valve is doing in its Steam client with Windows video games that can be run using Proton. As I say, it is not exactly the same, but it is details that make life much easier for Linux users when they want to use native Windows software without complicating life with additional installations, complex configurations, etc. You just install and it works ...

If this grows in the future, it could mean the elimination of some barriers that some users have when deciding to use Windows because certain programs / videogames they are not available, and if they are with WINE, they do not want to complicate their existence too much. This is a step forward, installing the package and voila.

In addition, it eliminates another problem at a stroke, and they are doubts about the security of these programs. Remember to snap them they are sandboxes, and it is isolated and limited, which is much more secure. For example, PhotoScape is a Windows app that is available as a snap. This package already includes the app itself and the WINE packages to offer that compatibility layer so that it works as if it were in the native system ...