FACIL on Linux
te...@betv.org
Thank you for your email outlining the issues for running FACIL on OS_X.
We were discussing some other issues, and the question came up about
running FACIL on Linux; is there a procedure for installing and running
FACIL on Linux servers and/or workstations? I'm not certain there is a
method to accomplish this.
This is not a high priority for today, but it would be nice to have
information a month from today.
Does the FACIL database need to be installed on a Windows PC/Server or can
it be installed on a Linux PC/Server with NTFS support? Would it be better
to use Remote Desktop Connection from a Linux workstation to a Windows
PC/Server?
Kind Regards,
Freddy Cunningham
Dave Becker
It's important to distinguish between running the Facil program and hosting the Facil data file – not the same thing at all.
The Facil program runs on Windows and only on Windows. Of course many users run Windows on an Apple Macintosh computer and use Facil in that way. They use Boot Camp, Parallels, VMWare Fusion, or other systems that virtualize the Windows operating system to run on top of OS-X. This works fine for Facil because it is running the genuine Microsoft Windows OS. Becker Software doesn't provide support for setting up or using these virtual machines, but we do support Facil on these systems once you have Windows installed and running.
Similar virtualization software is available for the Linux platform including VMWare, VirtualBox, and others. Again, this runs a licensed copy of Windows on top of the Linux platform. I have no direct experience with this and I can't comment on how well it supports Facil. Perhaps some Facil user can enlighten both of us.
The Facil data file does NOT have to be on a Windows machine. It can be on any computer that allows Windows computers to connect to and read/write files. This includes Linux machines that support Windows connections and Macs running OS-X. You and I have already discussed this, but, since you bring it up in the Facil discussion group, here is the information on setting up an OS-X server to share the Facil data file with Windows clients. Credit goes to Zach Williams of Artisan Computing for this information:
- - - - - - - - -
Mac OS X uses Samba, like most other Unix based systems. The GUI has a
control to allow or disallow opportunistic locks on a per share basis,
which is the source of problems for most database files (mdb, dbf,
etc.). The configuration files allow for further tweaking, but that's
beyond what most admins are willing to do, and must be done carefully
lest a software update overwrite the changes.
My recommendation would be . . . to create a file share for just the
Facil data file, and make sure that oplocks are turned off on that
share, as per the Samba manual here:
http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/locking.html
If the user needs to know how to do this in the Mac OS X server GUI,
Apple's documentation is here for 10.5:
http://images.apple.com/server/macosx/docs/File_Services_Admin_v10.5.pdf
and here for 10.4:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Windows_Services_v10.4.pdf
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The info about Samba also applies to Linux servers hosting the Facil data file. Samba is the software that provides the support for Windows to read/write files on the Linux file system.
Remote Desktop is another approach. This is a "remote control" program that lets you use your computer's keyboard, mouse, and monitor to control another computer remotely. This requires that the Windows computer (running Facil) be available for the remote user to connect to and control and that it is not being used for other purposes - basically requiring two computers to do the job of one. Another drawback is that remote control can be a little sluggish and that gets annoying when you are doing intensive work. VNC is a popular open source remote control program that runs on both Windows and Linux.
Dave Becker
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Facil Software" group.
To post to this group, send email to fa...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to facil+un...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/facil?hl=en.
te...@betv.org
Thank you for the information!
Freddy Cunningham
betv.org
----------------------------------------------------------------
> It's important to distinguish between running the Facil program and
> hosting
> the Facil data file - not the same thing at all.