LiveCode Forums.

Ubuntu and Mint may be MORE user-centric than other distros: but they
are not nearly as user-centric as they could be.

Certainly, for Linux-heads setting the executable bit is part of the necessary knowledge to using Linux.

But, if Linux is EVER (???) to really compete with Macintosh and Windows as a desktop OS
things like the executable bit should have been ironed out quite a while back.

One thing I do not understand is this:

If I spin off a Linux standalone at home on my main Linux box; pop it on a flash drive and walk over to my school where
I have (currently) 9 Linux boxes - I don't have to set the executable bit: the standalones work "just like that"
as soon as they are copied across to a machine from the flash drive.

That being so; why can RunRev not deliver Liux installers that have the executable bit already set so that
this whole discussion is not necessary?

richmond62 wrote:...if Linux is EVER (???) to really compete with Macintosh and Windows as a desktop OS
things like the executable bit should have been ironed out quite a while back.

Being a certified Unix, Mac apps also require that the execution bit be set. The problem here is LiveCode, not Linux: if LiveCode for Linux was packaged in a platform-friendly way as RunRev does for OS X this wouldn't be a problem.

FourthWorld wrote:The problem here is LiveCode, not Linux.

Well, at last it has been said: no more dodging around behind the bushes.

I know that Windows and Macintosh are the dominant desktop operatinng systems at the moment; and look set to be for
a very long time to come. I also know that quite a few people develop for those operating systems on Linux.

Why do I feel that RunRev ought to put a bit more effort into this little niggles on the Linux side?

richmond62 wrote:Why do I feel that RunRev ought to put a bit more effort into this little niggles on the Linux side?

It's getting there bit by bit. For most of LiveCode's history RunRev had to focus on the platforms where the money comes from, but now with their open source initiative another factor makes Linux equally important: that's the community where the code contributions are most likely to come from. So among their other hires they've brought on Linux wizards like Gordon Fraser, and the IDE team is spending an increasing amount of time with the Linux build.

In fact, for v7 they're revamping the Linux engine to make much better use of GDK, so we'll see some significant refinements in both appearance and behavior coming up soon.

Linux packages are ready to use here: http://maxvessi.net/livecode/linux

Totally unofficials, but they should work.