installing and running LC on 'headless' linux server

[kee nethery]

> On Feb 1, 2021, at 1:52 AM, Ben Rubinstein via use-livecode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Mark (and Matthias). That's very useful info which I'll stash for another time.
> 
> In this case I really don't want to use the LC code over HTTP. It is purely a utility to run locally on this machine at scheduled intervals, in support of some other processes.
> 
> For several reasons it would be more convenient to run it as a stack rather than just a script, though it would be possible to go the latter way.

When I was running Kagi, we had a bunch of headless MacMini’s running HyperCard that processed various transactions. HyperCard would launch on machine startup and the stack would run through it’s cards, each with a separate thing it looked for to process.

One beautiful thing about this setup was that I would not code situations that I thought were unlikely to occur. I’d trap for them, but not code them. If that situation occurred, the stack would text me and halt into the debugger. I could log onto the machine, look at the variables, see what the situation was, and write code to handle it. 

1. Stack ran forever, cycling through cards.
2. Stack sent me a text when new code needed to be written.
3. Script was in the debugger allowing me to see why it halted.
4. I could alter the script immediately, test with the weird data, and then copy that stack to the other machines running the same stack.

I was unable to get LiveCode to mimic this functionality.

Basically I needed a stack to launch and run in the IDE and LiveCode didn’t have a way to do that. 

Kee Nethery