Someone has finally reversed the vara protocol and made a compatible (and open) version for linux. Now, you can skip wine and the protocol is finally properly documented for the first time (since the vara dev refused to release any proper documentation on how the protocol works).
I can confirm that this works with winlink (using pat).
It was a complete joke that such a widely used protocol on amateur frequencies was basically a blackbox that nobody was allowed to peer into, the very antithesis of this hobby. It should have been shunned by the community, but unfortunately too many folks are happy to put convenience before principals.