Standalones as CGI

[J. Landman Gay]

Richard Gaskin wrote:

> Downside of using Rev:  It's so finicky about server configuration that 
> it makes public sale of such a product prohibitive.

The requirements for using a CGI on Linux (as I understand it, which I 
admit I'm hazy on) are that all the libs contained in a standard Linux 
installation need to be installed on the server. This was pretty 
ubiquitous a while back and didn't cause any trouble. At JaguarPC, where 
my site is hosted, I never had any trouble and it just all worked the 
first time I tried it.

The trouble most people encounter now is that some ISPs choose not to 
install a few libraries that aren't strictly required for web serving. 
When those are missing, you get Rev's "missing files" error. Most ISPs 
will happily install them for you, since they don't interfere with the 
existing setup in any way; they just aren't required for most web 
applications.

The other thing that causes trouble is if a newer version of a library 
has been installed on the server. In that case, you also get an error 
because the newer libs have different names (so you get the same 
"missing file" error.) This can usually be solved by naming an alias of 
the newer library to match the old one that Rev expects to find. I have 
even heard (but haven't tested) that you can create an empty text file 
and use that, as long as it has the name Rev is looking for. Most of the 
time, Rev doesn't really use those files either; they just have to be 
present.

In either case, Rev is just relying on an installation that is now 
somewhat out of date, or which may be incomplete on the server. I 
believe the plan for the next Linux release is to reduce some of the 
various file dependencies, and hopefully those libraries which aren't 
specifically required for CGI work will no longer be required on the server.

-- 
Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com