:( I had E-sword 10.10 (latest version) running PERFECTLY on Linux Mint 12 Gnome 3 with WINE 1.3.28!!! However, I had to switch computers. Now I'm on Linux Mint 13 Mate with WINE 1.4. E-sword opens, but gets a tiny error box that says "0." I have to click it about 4 times, then it says "Error opening Topic notes." And then the program opens, but you can't use the topic notes. 1. I uninstalled Wine 1.4. 2. I downloaded the 1.3.28 tar.gz file, and after MUCH searching, figured out how to compile it. HOWEVER, after it finished, I opened the configure Wine app, and in "about," IT SAID IT WAS VERSION 1.4!!! (It must have auto-updated itself somewhere in the process :(- )And E-sword still didn't work right. 3. And now, after getting some Wine 1.4 updates in the Update MAnager, E-sword doesn't open at all!!! PLEASE HELP! I need to use E-sword every Friday!
theword.net has an more up-to-date feeling program than e-sword. Theword installs easily and quickly, with standard wine configuration. All the Hebrew (w/vowel points) and Greek (with breath marks) render correctly. It has far more additional free resource material available. The UI is different and so has a learning curve. Unfortunately commercial products are more expensive for it than the same product on e-sword. What I miss the most? the connected word processor found in e-sword.
I just tested e-sword 10.10 with current git (wine-1.5.6-136) and it ran fine out of the box with no native DLLs, no overrides, no futzing. (Or at least it started up and seemed to work; I didn't really use it much.) Try wine-1.5.6 with a clean .wine directory, might work for you too.
Thanks a lot! Using a new .wine folder really helped. Although to get all features to run correctly (like search) you need to use some DLLs. http://www.biblesupport.com/topic/1316-useing-e-sword-in-linux-with-wine/ tells you how to do this.