Running ENB on Linux

Earth and Beyond was only ever released for the Windows Operating System, and trying to get it to run on Linux was the exclusive preserve of players who were dedicated Linux boffins and tinkerers. Today, thanks to the persistent efforts of such erudite folk (of late and notably the likes of Nimsy and Codemonkeyx) getting ENB to run in a Linux distribution is now no longer a frustrating, hair-pulling exercise for the Linux newbie.

Why on Earth would I want to go Beyond Windows?

This question has gained significance since the announcement by Microsoft that support for Windows 10 will end on the 14th of October, 2025. You'll of course be still able to run ENB using Windows 10, but you'll no longer get security updates from Microsoft and your computer will become less secure over time. (Tip: if staying on Windows 10, create an Administrator account for computer maintenance, and reduce your everyday account to "User" level access).

While you'll be able to continue receiving Windows updates and also play ENB by upgrading to Windows 11, this latest operating system presents a number of problems:

EXPENSE: as well as the usual higher hardware specs for a new operating system, Windows 11 requires a computer that has TPM 2.0 (Trusted Platform Management) capability switched on in its BIOS. Older computers that do not have this feature will not be able to run Windows 11, requiring you to buy a new computer if you wish to still receive security updates. In these days of high inflation and new tariffs however, this will become an increasingly expensive exercise.
SECURITY: despite being touted as a security feature, two vulnerabilities have been found in TPM 2.0, which are compromising the security of millions of machines which have this feature switched on. What was supposed to enhance security is now effectively a potential "back door" into your system for attackers to exploit. As reported by the Tom's Guide website in 2023, "an exploit leveraging these vulnerabilities would be essentially “undetectable” by the devices themselves as well as the best antivirus software."
PRIVACY: Windows 11 has a higher level of integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI). One of its AI features is an opt-in "service" called "Recall", which takes a screen-shot of your digital activity every three seconds, and stores an OCR'd description of each picture in a database file, in plain text, in your user profile. Activating this feature could provide very personal information of your ongoing computing activity to Microsoft, any entity with authority to demand access or data from Microsoft, and any malicious person or entity that may gain access to your Windows 11 system (see the TPM issue, above). For more information see these linked articles over at WindowsForum.com and TheVerge.com.

Okay, okay, but the most important thing: will ENB work on Linux?

In short, yes. In fact, a pleasant feature is that if you are running multiple ENB windows, in Linux you can drag them around from their title-bars like any other window, instead of right-clicking and using context-menu selections, as is needed when running ENB in Microsoft Windows.

If you are not familiar with Linux, there are dozens of different varieties, which are known as "distributions. Some distributions (or "distros") are variations of particular major versions, and so can be considered as a sort of "family" (they often will use the same type of installation/setup files). There are so many Linux distros that it's impractical to check that ENB will work on all, but here is a list which are confirmed to be ENB-friendly:

Linux Mint (a Ubuntu/Debian variant), confirmed March 2025 by Winlander
Manjaro (an Arch Linux variant) confirmed September 2023 by Codemonkeyx
Zorin OS (a Ubuntu/Debian variant), confirmed April 2025 by Winlander

If you have successfully got ENB to run in another Linux distro, please add it to this list (in alphabetical order please!).

Now, down to brass tacks. How do I install ENB on Linux?

It's as easy as:

Install Linux on your computer (making sure your firewall is on, the internet is connected, and all system updates are complete)
Open a Terminal window (the equivalent of a Command/CMD window in Microsoft Windows): click on the "Start" menu and type "Terminal" to find it.
Paste one of the following script commands into the Terminal window. Either:
sh <(curl --fail --silent --show-error --location https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ciphersimian/enb-linux-installer/master/install-enb-linux.sh) (this works with Mint & Zorin),
or
sh <(wget --no-verbose --output-document=- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ciphersimian/enb-linux-installer/master/install-enb-linux.sh)
Hit Enter. IMPORTANT/WICHTIG/IMPORTANTE: It's best to read up on this first, if you haven't done it before. See the links below.
Go make some popcorn.. it will take a while! But hang around, as half-way through you'll need to click an OK-button to install ENB patches, and there are some "yes/no" questions at the end.

This wonderful script (which takes all the pain out of installing ENB on Linux) was written by Codemonkeyx in September 2023. Not only does it install ENB, but beforehand it will check and, if your system needs it, it will install the Linux app called WINE (needed to run Windows programs on Linux) as well as all the Windows-native dependencies that ENB requires.

It is highly recommended, if you haven't done the above operation before, that you read Codemonkeyx's instructions FIRST. See:

ENB Forum Post 27 Sep 2023: Unofficial Linux Install Script for the Net-7 Entertainment Inc. Earth & Beyond Emulator
GitHub.com: ciphersimian/enb-linux-installer

For the Linux enthusiasts

If you are familiar with Linux and want to read the technical discussion in the ENB Forum 2009-current (where Nimsy's work and comments are to be found), check out:

ENB Forum Post 20 Sep 2009: Linux(maybe mac?)/Wine install guide