Jagannath Hora on Linux - Play on Linux Magic

While I prefer Maitreya as it can run with Linux as native, quite a few of my friends have asked me if Jagannatha Hora will work on Linux and hence this post. Right, when I tried last time around mid Oct’09, JHora was not working using wine. However, recently things have changed. If you are not aware or have not used Play On Linux then you should try it out. It works. Anyway back to original topic, the steps to install Jagannatha Hora on Kubuntu 10.04 are as below. (I am mighty sure this will work on other linux machines but I have tried it only on Kubuntu 10.04 which is increasingly becoming my OS of choice.)

Step 1: Install Play On Linux (POL)
Step 2: Download Jagannatha Hora ( JH )
Step 3: Install JH using POL

1. Install Play On Linux (POL) - You can install using Package Manager - Synaptic or KPackagekit but you will most likely get a little older version. I installed using Synaptic but then updated it by downloading directly from the site or follow this link to download the version 3.7.6. This is latest at the time of writing but it may be best to just get it from the website here. Once downloaded and installed, we move to a very simple and straightforward Step 2.
2. Download Jagannatha Hora ( JH )
   I am sure if you have come here searching on net, you don't need introduction to this software but in any case I admire the author of this software Mr. P. V. R Narsimha Rao for various reasons. One I consider him my Guru and as I am just a beginner to the world of astrology I find his to book the best reference one can get. I purchased it in 2006 when it was not easily available in UK but now the book itself is included in the software. Though the topic of this post does not require mention of book, I will take a moment to write few words on it. As the author is an engineer from IIT, his approach to subject was structured much like an engineering book. Very logical flow that takes you through the concepts in a way I have not found in any other book till date. It does not mean I don't like other authors. It just means that I recommend this to any beginner as it makes the concepts easy to grasp.
   OK, now back to topic, if you don't already know, you can get this software by following this link - http://www.vedicastrologer.org/jh/ Once you download the zip file, extract it in the same folder. Just remember where you extracted. The file you have extracted will be named - jh_full_install.exe.
3. Install JH using POL - Open the Play on Linux software. In Kubuntu you will find it by clicking KLauncher -> Applications -> Games. Once it starts, click on "Install".This will open a new window. In this window, click on the line in lower left hand side corner - “Install a .pol or an unsupported application”. This will close the above window and open another window.
   Please note that if this window does not close, it appears that Play On Linux has hanged. In such case click on cross to close that window and it will show an error message suggesting that “PlayOnLinux” is not responding or something to that effect but you select to force close it and you will still land up on the next window. I found that this problem went away when I installed the latest version 3.7.6.
   a) In this window select “Manual installation” and click on “Next”. b) On the next window that appears, click “Forward”. c) You will be presented with another window with choices. Default choice being – “Install a program in a new prefix”. Keep it selected or if it is not selected, select it and click on “Forward”, d) Next will be presented a window asking name for wine prefix. Type “Jhora” and click “Forward” e) On the next window, there will be two check-boxes. Leave them un-ticked, do nothing and click Forward. f) Once prefix is created, you will be presented with this window. Browse to the the file extracted in step 2 and then press Forward. g) Now it should start installing and once complete, it will ask if you want it to be shown on desktop. I chose Yes but it will be up to personal preference.

Play On Linux can also be used to install Spotify and 7zip, but more importantly you can see that an entry for Jhora has now been created. Finally on desktop you should be able to see the link for JH. You should now be able to use JH without any problems. Hope you found this post useful. -Ankit.