VW on Linux

[unearthed]

Like many others I am definitely not looking forward to the upcoming forced change to windows 11, and have been reading about Linux. I've seen a number of posts across the last two decades on here about people running VW on various Linux versions, and varying levels of complexity but success like EricsW in this 2021 thread that includes Linux KVM.

 

So who here has had success running VW on Linux of any version including virtual machines like EricsW’s solution?

 

I’m still on 2018 and for my use see no benefit to go beyond this (increasingly my workflow is in Rebelle and QGIS/R - but vectorworks is still a useful tool for making sheet sets, and for plant counting and orders - it is still the only CAD with an integrated (good enough) spreadsheet). I will never use ‘Service Select’ or any other ‘saas’, a; it’s being party to the parasitic rent-seeking mindset, and b; I often end up being places with poor connections and had enough of this when I tried the Sketchup saas and found it seriously wanting. And I’m not interested in dongle approaches either.

[zoomer]

I think it is quite unrealistic to expect that VW will one day offer Linux support or that a 3D CAD App like VW will run reliable in a Windows emulation like WINE.
(While with latest progress in Steam and similar and an older less demanding VW version like your VW 2018 it might be worth to try again. Problematic may be the VW licensing and installation itself though)

 

And usually someone who prefers to run Linux does so for reasons and is likely not interested in running a Windows beside, even in a VM. But I think it would be the easiest and less annoying option for running VW on Linux. A Windows 10 VM with no or limited temporary internet access just running an older VW.
This is what I did with my Windows only 3D and CAD Apps when I switched to Apple and OSX. I started with Windows via Bootcamp but soon wanted to work in OSX and ran Windows 10 virtually. First with VMware but that did never really work well for demanding GPU support and was lagging. It was only reasonably working with Parallels.
And this is where I am not experienced or sure about quality of Windows VMs on Linux. E.g. testing virtualizations like Virtualbox on Mac did not allow me to reliable run Linux installations itself. So I doubt a CAD would run well.

My VM experience ended many years ago and may be outdated.

 

But I am still running a Manjaro and ElementaryOS (lost my Tumbleweed installation) on the PC beside a latest Windows 11. I don't really use the PC beside for testing and am happy that I can still work on Mac.

[unearthed]

Thanks Zoomer,

I agree I don’t see VW supporting Linux ever.

 

I’ll digest that what you’ve written (and your comments on other threads here) alongside my other reading. As far as I can tell (at least theoretically) I think I can run all my other software on Linux either directly or via wine.  Alongside will definitely be what I do for a while until very comfortable with whatever Linux I use

 

I only use VW in quite simple ways, and don’t use any rendering functions or any 3D outside of terrain model. I’ve not seen anything that is more than I need on from 2018.

 

So many versions of Linux! I need to do some serious reading, esp. on Manjaro.

[nbakovic]

I'm going to do a bit of experimentation with Linux and VW over the next few weeks and I can post some results on here if you're interested. I'm in a similar boat to you and I really lost it with Windows when I realized how much performance is taken up by that OS. I run VW 20205 on both my Mac laptop and windows desktop and I'm looking into getting rid of windows for the most part. I'll be trying to get it to work on Fedora Workstation 42 with the KDM desktop environment and see how it goes. 

I think it would be great if there was a native app for Linux. The native versions of Maya and Blender reduce rendering time on my Linux install by about 10% to 15% on the same hardware. But I'm not holding my breath on the native version but of the overhead of the VM or Wine or whatever else I find is the same neighborhood as what the Windows 11 penalty is, then I'll try it. 

[unearthed]

I'd be very interestedin seeing how you go with that Nick. 

 

Windows is increasingly an OS that I use in spite of it, the endless bells and whistles and gamification is tiresome, and Win11 looks far worse.

 

If worst comes to worse I can imagine keeping an air-gapped Windows but that'll be a pain.

Edited July 16, 2025 by unearthed

[nbakovic]

Small update to this thread. Running VW through Wine on Linux is a no go. I was unable to get it to work at all and will be abandoning that avenue. My next attempt will be running it using the proton compatibility layer. The layer isn't designed for gaming software specifically but based on a bit of research, it might work. I'll provide an update when I know more. My planned fallback is to test a VM running a stripped down version of Windows like Atlas Revi or Tiny11 and see how those perform.

[temujindang]

@nbakovic

Any update on your ventures with linux?

[Suuella]

I've been waiting for years for the Year of the Linux Desktop. But in 2026, the time finally seems right. I think Windows 11 is so bad that many creatives are looking for alternatives like Linux Mint.

I'm overdue to buy new hardware for the studio this spring, and I really like how fast and responsive an old HP workstation was with Mint and BricsCAD. I hate to see perfectly fine hardware go to waste.

I'm still missing Vectorworks, though, but I'm willing to trade comfort for perpetual licenses and a good, stable OS. I'm sure many will follow if Rhino3D (or someone else) releases a native Linux version.

But I haven't yet found a good workflow on Linux for a one-man residential studio like mine.

[Suuella]

My current knowledge of usable software on Linux:

CAD (2D/3D drafting & design): BricsCAD, Graebert ARES Commander, still hoping for Vectorworks 😉, Rayon (via browser)

Layout/Graphic design: Inkscape, Scribus, GIMP

Modeling: FreeCAD, Blender, Plasticity

Office: LibreOffice / OpenOffice

Project management: ProjectLibre, Obsidian, ...

 

[matteoluigi]

On 1/10/2026 at 7:09 PM, Suuella said:

Modeling: FreeCAD, Blender, Plasticity

Blender and Bonsai 🌳 😉

Edited February 4 by matteoluigi

[nbakovic]

A small update, I found about 3 dozen ways in which it doesn't work but I'm still trying to figure it out. It's not looking good so far though.