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Expanded README.md with software dependencies, more emulators, library dependencies.
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‎README.md‎

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@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ The zip is formatted with DOS headers and has 8.3 friendly names.
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#### Watcom Lua floppy disk Images
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This zip contains two floppy disk format images (`.ima` format)
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which are ready to be written to real disks for distributing to retro machines
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or opened by [emulators](#emulators) directly.
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or opened by [emulators](#emulators-and-compatibility-layers) directly.
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To save space on these disk images, binaries have been compressed
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by [UPX](https://upx.github.io/) where possible.
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| Windows Vista - 10 | 80686<br/>x86_64 | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
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| Windows 11 | x86_64 | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
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### Software Dependencies
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#### DOS
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The 32-bit DOS4GW extender version of Lua for Watcom (`LUA4G.EXE`)
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requires `DOS4GW.EXE` to either be in the same directory or discoverable
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in a directory specified by the `%PATH%` environment variable.
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The real-mode version of Lua for Watcom (`LUA16.EXE`)
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is completely self-contained and requires no extra files or directory structure.
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#### Linux
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The Linux version of Lua for Watcom (`LUAUX.ELF`) is completely self-contained
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and requires no libraries from a distribution, not even libc.
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The Linux kernel itself needs support for running "i386" ELF binaries.
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#### OS/2
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OS/2 version 2.0 and later have 32-bit executable support
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and can run both the 16-bit (`LUA21.EXE`)
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and 32-bit (`LUA22.EXE`) OS/2 versions of Lua for Watcom.
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OS/2 version 1.3 and earlier are 16-bit and can only run `LUA21.EXE`.
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`DOSCALL1.DLL` is required to run `LUA21.EXE`
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which is included in OS/2 v1.2 and later.
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OS/2 version 1.1 and earlier should run `LUA16.EXE`
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in a DOS command prompt.
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#### Windows
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All the dependencies of the Windows version of Lua for Watcom (`LUANT.EXE`)
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ship in a minimal installation of Windows 95,
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there are effectively no dependencies.
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## Build
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See the [Build documentation](BUILD.md) and [GitHub Workflow](.github/workflows/LuaWatcom.yml)
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See the [Build documentation](BUILD.md).
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Additionally, the [GitHub Workflow](.github/workflows/LuaWatcom.yml)
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can be studied to understand the release build workflow.
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# See also
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## Emulators
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If you do not have retro hardware but want to try Lua for Watcom
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any of the following emulators can be used to run the Lua binaries
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from a modern machine.
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| Emulator | Emulation Type | Repository | Comment |
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| [86Box](https://86box.net/) | PC Hardware | https://github.com/86Box/86Box | Requires firmware blobs. For best experience use with 86Box launcher |
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| [DOSBox-X](https://dosbox-x.com/) | DOS Software | https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x | Not to be confused with DOSBox |
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| [MISTer FPGA](https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Wiki_MiSTer/wiki) | Field Programmable Gate Array | https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/ao486_MiSTer</br>https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_MiSTer | Requires compatible field programmable gate array (FPGA) hardware. |
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| [PCem](https://www.pcem-emulator.co.uk/) | PC Hardware | https://github.com/sarah-walker-pcem/pcem/ | Requires firmware blobs. |
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| [Qemu](https://www.qemu.org/) | Hypervisor | https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu | Often used with `libvirt`. Only recommended for guests with driver support (Windows XP and later) |
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## Emulators and Compatibility Layers
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As shown in the [Binary Compatibility Matrix](#binary-compatibility-matrix)
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both `LUANT.EXE` and `LUAUX.ELF` are compatible
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with current versions of Windows and Linux operating systems respectively.
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An emulator should not be necessary to run these binaries
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on current Linux/Windows PCs with AMD/Intel processors.
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If you want to run the DOS or OS/2 version on a modern PC
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or have a non-x86 processor in your machine,
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then any of the following software projects can be used to run the Lua binaries.
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| Name | Type | Repository | Comment |
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|-----------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| [86Box](https://86box.net/) | Full x86 PC Hardware Emulation | https://github.com/86Box/86Box | Requires firmware blobs. For best experience use with a 86Box launcher. |
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| [DOSBox-X](https://dosbox-x.com/) | DOS Environment Emulation | https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x | Only useful for running DOS applications like `LUA16.EXE` and `LUA4G.EXE` on non-DOS operating systems (including Windows versions after Windows 98). Not to be confused with DOSBox. |
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| [MISTer FPGA](https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Wiki_MiSTer/wiki) | Field Programmable Gate Array | https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/ao486_MiSTer</br>https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/PCXT_MiSTer | Requires compatible field programmable gate array (FPGA) hardware. |
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| [PCem](https://www.pcem-emulator.co.uk/) | Full x86 PC Hardware Emulation | https://github.com/sarah-walker-pcem/pcem/ | Requires firmware blobs. |
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| [Qemu](https://www.qemu.org/) | Processor Compatibility Layer & Hypervisor | https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu | It might be possible set up `qemu-i386` to run `LUAUX.ELF` on a non-x86 Linux system.</br>Full virtual machines (`qemu-i386-system` & `qemu-x86_64-system`) are only recommended for running operating systems with guest driver support (Windows XP and later, Linux 2.6.26 and later etc...). |
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| [Wine](https://www.winehq.org/) | Windows Application Compatibility Layer | https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine | Only useful for running Windows applications like `LUANT.EXE` on non-Windows operating systems. |
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## Other software
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