Hi Lemmings, I wondered if anyone had successfully created a C# project that uses winforms on linux.
I just can’t figure out how to do it.
I use Arch and have full dotnet 6 and 8 packages; but I can’t dotnet new winforms as the template seems to not exist.
I also have installed mono and monodevelop installed, but even the simplest solution (Console App) can’t load correctly (currently I have /usr/share/dotnet/sdk/8.0.102/Sdks/Microsoft.NET.Sdk/targets/Microsoft.NET.Sdk.DefaultItems.Shared.targets(152,5) : error MSB4062: The "CheckForImplicitPackageReferenceOverrides" task could not be loaded from the assembly /usr/share/dotnet/sdk/8.0.102/Sdks/Microsoft.NET.Sdk/targets/../tools/net472/Microsoft.NET.Build.Tasks.dll. Invalid Image Confirm that the <UsingTask> declaration is correct, that the assembly and all its dependencies are available, and that the task contains a public class that implements Microsoft.Build.Framework.ITask. but there were different similar errors before, these errors.
I don’t really want to boot up a VM every time I have to code on that project, but I’m starting to feel desperate about this.
TLDR: How does one create and work on a WinForms C# project with linux ? Any suggestions are welcome
Some clarifications for future readers :
- It is for a school group project; winforms in imposed, which sadly won’t let me go with Avalonia
.Net 8 will work on Linux just fine. But winforms will not, it’s specifically a legacy windows-only UI framework.
You’re going to have to jump through some incredible hoops to get it to work on Linux. Which are definitely not part of your normal curriculum.
I know folks in the C# Discord have talked about getting WinForms to work on Linux, you could post a question there. But unless you’re specifically dealing with maintaining some legacy app, you should not be using WinForms, much less on Linux. Avalonia or Xamarin are definitely the way to go if you’re making something new and want cross-platform desktop support.
Protip if you do go down that route: Tutorials tend to ignore the fact that you don’t have to use XAML to make anything in these frameworks. You should. But if it’s more comfortable for you to write WinForms-style imperative code that you’re used to, you 100% can, the APIs are not significantly different.
I know it’s possible. I’ve used a keepass client on Linux that required Winforms; I think it was keepassx.
Mono was how I got it to work.
well, mono in itself seems to work and I have successfully built the hello world winforms program using mono, but the monodevelop IDE won’t seem to work at all, which would make coding harder than it should be.
I’ve also seen things online saying that monodevelop is half dead, so I don’t have much hope about this
OP,
Here’s a friendly reminder that programming.dev has a community dedicated to .NET: !dotnet@programming.dev
Maaaybe try an older visual studio install under wine?
that could be a solution indeed, but I’m not sure the latest working version (2010) would have all the features that would fit my needs, see WIneHQ’s rating history for Visual Studio
