people_are_cute

But I remember seeing that group being blacklisted and called out in multiple Piracy communities and wikis a few years ago.

What happened? Are they good now?

Windows as a software package would have never been affordable to individuals or local-level orgs in countries like India and Bangladesh (especially in the 2000's) that are now powerhouses of IT. Same for many SE Asian, Eastern European, African and LatinoAmerican countries as well.

Had the OS been too difficult to pirate, educators and local institutions in these countries would have certainly shifted to Linux and the like. The fact that Windows could be pirated easily is the main factor that led to its ubiquity and allowed it to become a household name. Its rapid popularity in the '00s and early '10s cemented its status as the PC operating system. It is probably the same for Microsoft Office as well (it is still a part of many schools' standard curricula).

The fact that Windows still remains pirateable to this day is perhaps intentional on Microsoft's part.

This post will guide you on how to install and run pirate releases of games on Linux. Basic knowledge (how to install stuff, get around files, opening the terminal) is assumed.

Step 0

Ensure the game you intend to pirate actually stands a chance in running on Linux. Check the game's ProtonDB rank, if it's Silver or below chances are it won't work even with additional effort. If it has a good rank (Gold and above), get the cracked release from wherever you get those. If multiple options are available, the general order of preference should be: Steam/DVD Rip > GOG release > Repack

Step 1

Install Wine and Steam, then enable Steam Play for all titles (Steam → Settings → Compatibility).

Step 2

Make one central folder for all game files. Copy the game files to each game's subfolder (e.g. ~/games/). If it's an ISO file, extract its contents like an archive. If it is a repack/setup (e.g. GOG, FitGirl, Dodi, etc) run the setup by opening a terminal in the repack folder and entering: wine ./theGameSetupFile.exe

! Make sure in the setup you set the destination folder to the main games folder you've made. In Wine, access to the Linux file system is through the Z: virtual drive. e.g. in FitGirl's setups, just change the installation folder to Z:\home\yourUsername\games\gameSubfolder if the directory you made was ~/games/

! Make sure the installer is installing only the game, not anything else. Uncheck the option of installing Visual C++ runtimes, for example.

Step 3

Open Steam, in the menu bar go to Games → Add a non-Steam Game to My Library.., click on Browse and select the game executable (.exe) from the game's folder. Then in your Steam Library click on the new game and go to its settings (right click → Properties or open game page → Settings icon → Properties), go to the compatibility option and check the "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" option. In the dropdown, select Proton Experimental.

Run the game from Steam. If it works, great!

If it didn't work, you might be missing some software requirements (vcredist, etc). To add them, you'll need an additional step:

Step 4 (optional)

Install winetricks and protontricks. Open a terminal and run protontricks --gui Select the game in the list, click on OK, select Install an application, click on OK, click on Cancel and now you'll see a slightly different options window. Select Install a Windows DLL or Component option and click on OK. The new window will list all possible requirements/dependencies, install whatever the game needs. You can get to know the game's software requirements from its PCGamingWiki page (or just google it). Repeat for each requirement.

That's it, with this you can run any game directly through Steam's Proton layer. No Lutris, no juggling multiple wineprefixes, no racking your brains around multiple Wine runners. Proton Experimental gets regularly updated, so you'll always be running your game with the best and latest compatibility option there is.

Which platform would a typical IT guy be more on guard against?

While Windows has been known for decades to be a hot pot for all PC malware, Android phones are much more ubiquitous and personalized, and (as far as I know) aren't hardened against malware in any way. I mean, it literally takes just two taps to install a rogue apk and that is notwithstanding that most OEM implementations and apps on the Play Store are ad-ridden privacy nightmares by themselves. At least when it comes to Windows, Administrators have greater control over client machines and can put in restrictions. How would someone handling infosec in an organization control security on people's personal phones?