What it is

RunRev Community Linux is an Free and Open Source initiative to provide the RunRev community with a simple Linux that can be run on a virtual machine, liveCD or USB Stick. This Linux comes with revStudio, revEnterprise and Revolution engine as CGI already installed. With this appliance you can test your applications on Linux machines, experiment Rev on a Linux environment or learn about CGI programming. Both revStudio and revEnterprise are not licensed, when you first launch them, they will ask for a license. When RunRev releases revServer, it will also be included in this distribution.

RunRev Community Linux is built with SuSe Studio, a web service that allows one to click-and-customize SuSe Linux and build your own linux flavour. SuSe Studio Rocks! Check them out at http://susestudio.com. This Linux is based on OpenSUSE 11.2 with some minimal packages, just enough to run a productive Rev environment. It includes MySQL, PostgreSQL and Apache2.

The user name is "revolution" and the password is "linux". Remember this is SuSe Linux, not Ubuntu, there's no apt-get, use zypper instead. Check out SuSe pages at OpenSuSe.org for more info.

This is not a all purpose linux distribution, its intended purpose is to serve as a test and development environment for Revolution. This should not be your OS of choice, but if you're felling at home here, then, why not use OpenSuSe 11.2 which is the system this was based.

Why it is

In our use-revolution mailing list, there are always people not familiar with Linux. By not being familiar with this fantastic free operating system, they will not build for linux or even test rev on linux. This simple distro comes to aid the curious and to provide a valuable tool for those that need to test their software under linux but can't spare the hardware. It is also great to learn about CGI.

It includes MySQL, PostgreSQL, Apache2 and my own CGI libraries. The web folder is /srv/www/ and you must be root to play there, so become root by using the su command, the password is linux. The editor is gEdit and the browser is Firefox. I am accepting suggestion of packages if anyone feels the for installing more stuff. Remember this is not a all purpose linux distro, the purpose of this distribution is the development and testing of Revolution resources.

How can you help (this is important)

You can use it and provide feedback! You can also donate money to my PayPal account under agarzia at mac dot com, I am paying for the bandwidth for these downloads and they are big. Creating this takes time, which I could be using to earn money to pay my bills, so any contribution is welcome.

So, click the PayPal button below to contribute.

What we're looking for

• Some artwork for wallpapers. We're using openSUSE one, which is great, it is my default one on my home desktop, but something to differentiate this initiative would be good.
• Demo Stacks, FREE resources to bundle.
• Testing and feedback.

Changelog

Version 0.0.2

• Added revMedia
• Added many Gnome packages related to printing, media, networking. Added Gnome-Control-Center which should serve as a Desktop Environment control panel.
• Added new Revolution MIME Type to Gnome: application/x-revolution and set .rev files to it. Made changes to the .desktop files to tell the system that revEnterprise, revStudio and revMedia accepts application/x-revolution. Still need more tweeking to work.

Version 0.0.1

Initial version. Included revStudio, revEnterprise and Rev 3.5 as CGI engine. Included RevOnRockets as a folder on the home folder and installed as CGI on /srv/www.

Downloads

Current

• VMWare Image RunRev_Community_Linux.i686-0.0.2.vmx.tar.gz (743 MB)
  

  This image can be run with VMWare Player or VirtualBox, to run with VirtualBox, create a new virtual machine and set the hard drive to the vmdk file.

• LiveCD RunRev_Community_Linux.i686-0.0.2.iso (573 MB)
  

  Extension of downloaded file: .iso
  It is a compressed filesystem, no extraction is necessary
  Burn the .iso file with a burning application (e.g. Gnome- or KDE-tool) to a media
  You will receive a bootable CD or DVD with a SUSE-Based Live-System
  Check your BIOS if your machine will not boot via CD
  

• USB Stick RunRev_Community_Linux.i686-0.0.2.oem.tar.gz (736 MB)
  

  Extension of downloaded file: .oem.tar.gz
  After extraction you will see one new file: .raw
  How to with in a LINUX system
  The GUI way:
  Search for kiwi-tools-imagewriter at http://software.opensuse.org/search and use the one-click-install button.
  You can also download the rpm via the search result list.
  You can then run imagewriter as root and write your chosen image to your chosen USB device.
  The dd way:
  Copy the .raw image with dd to the disk or usb stick (place link here)
  Be careful when using 'dd'. You can lose your data!
  Based on some experience with defect USB sticks we recommend to check the MD5SUM
  Check the BIOS of your system if it does not boot via USB

Past releases

• VMWare Image RunRev_Community_Linux.i686-0.0.1.vmx.tar.gz (567 MB)
• LiveCD RunRev_Community_Linux.i686-0.0.1.iso (441 MB)
• USB Stick RunRev_Community_Linux.i686-0.0.1.oem.tar.gz (567 MB)

Who

This system was put together by Andre Alves Garzia using SuSe Studio. I am a Revolution consultant and available for contract work. If you need cross platform solutions that use databases, web services and desktop apps, come talk to me.

Useful Information

Regarding logins

The username is revolution

The password is linux (Also used for any administrator dialog)

Useful (and often dangerous) commands

One day, I will make a better FAQM

su: su means superuser, if issued at a terminal it will request the user password and then log in as the administrator. So effectivily it turns a normal terminal session into a administrator session. Useful for working in places where the normal user can't touch.

sudo: sudo means super user do. Like su it requests the user passwords and then it executes the following instructions as if the administrator had issued them. Useful for tasks that only the admin can perform, such as mounting and unmounting drives.

Regarding paths

All Revolution versions are installed in: /home/revolution/apps

Apache, PostgreSQL and MySQL are running. Apache home folder is:
/srv/www (for the static files)
/srv/www/cgi-bin (for the CGIs)

files with the .rev extension are mapped to the MIME type application/x-revolution. The desktop icons are .desktop files inside /home/revlution/Desktop those files are text based and can be edited if someone wants to fiddle with the settings.

Installing aditional software

You can install new software by going to the computer menu -> Install Software.

If you install software on the LiveCD version, it will be gone by the time you reboot but on the VMWare image or USB Drive, it will be installed fine so you can customize your experience. If you install any package that you think is useful for Revolution development and testing of Linux applications and resources, drop me a line and I will try to get it bundled in the default build of this distro.