[chandler-users] Chandler on Fedora 8

[Kirk Lowery]

It may interest (potential) users that the prebuilt Chandler Desktop
for Linux (http://downloads.osafoundation.org/chandler/snapshots/latest_cp/#enduserlinux)
works on a Fedora 8 platform, which is not (yet?) supported. I haven't
used it extensively yet, so I don't know if there are any glitches,
but it comes up, allows me to create, edit items, displays everything
okay and exits normally, all without crashing. I'll report any further
problems here and any fixes there might be.

There is one thing you must do before running Chandler. A standard
Fedora 8 box runs SELinux in enforcing mode. Chandler attempts to
change the access protection of memory on
the heap. SELinux says this is a BadThing(tm), don't do that. I've
filed a bug (https://bugzilla.osafoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=12006)
for this, for SELinux is not unique to Fedora. Most Linux distros have
it available at the least.

The workaround for this problem is to open a hole in the security of
your box and allow Chandler to do the BadThing(tm). The risk is that
in order to do this, you must allow *any* program to do this, not just
Chandler. Since my Linux box is in a trusted network, behind
industrial strength firewalls, I don't see this as a big deal, as a
temporary measure. I would NOT do it on a laptop, however, since you
never know how secure your network might be in your wanderings.

Here's the workaround:

Become root in a terminal command line. Then execute the command:

/usr/sbin/setsebool -P allow_execheap=1

This may take a few moments to complete. Then return to your usual
username, download and install Chandler as per the instructions.

If you're done playing with Chandler, and want to return your box to
its original SELinux condition, simply execute as root:

/usr/sbin/setsebool -P allow_execheap=0

If anyone else does this, I'd be interested in your experience,
especially if you experience problems.

Enjoy!

Kirk