RunRev and Linux

[J. Landman Gay]

Peter Alcibiades wrote:

> my suggestion to anyone testing Rev on Linux is to get as close to
> bare metal as you can.

That won't be the right test. If you look on page 18 of the User Guide, 
it explains the requirements. It's true, I believe, that testing is done 
on Ubuntu because that is the most popular distro right now. The user 
guide also says that while they strive for compatibility, they cannot 
deliver to everyone. Certain libraries are required, and they mention 
that Gnome has the ones you need. You've said you don't use that. Maybe 
you do have the necessary libraries installed, but I'm not familiar 
enough to know what those are.

A better test on your end would be to bite the bullet and install 
Ubuntu; then see what issues continue to exist. After that, maybe you 
can diagnose the differences in your preferred distro so you know what 
may be missing.

Re: RR offering a Linux version. You have it a little backward. The 
engine started out many years ago as a 'nix-only version of HyperCard 
with some additional features. For a long time, that was the only 
platform it was available on, since the creator Scott Raney was entirely 
a 'nix man. Eventually he ported it to Windows and later to Mac. When RR 
acquired the engine, they retained the Linux builds, but the vast 
majority of their customers by that time were Windows and Mac users. I 
think Richard has it right, that there is a necessary balance between 
the user base and the amount of attention and resources a platform 
receives. To make things worse, lots of Linux users expect software to 
be free and won't look twice at anything that isn't, so there's less 
incentive to spend a lot of effort creating something that few may purchase.

That said, I agree that if a Linux version is available, it should run 
without problems on at least some distros. If you can isolate those 
problems on a distro that is stated to be supported (Ubuntu at least) 
then those certainly deserve some attention from the team. As Linux 
gains in popularity on the desktop, I have no doubt that the team could 
provide more expanded support.

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