Thank you for all the responses. Rogan, you inferences are generally correct. I do not have much experience. I have worked with virtual machines before, and I use Ubuntu on my personal computer, but I have never really been a sys admin. As for time, I do not have much time per week, but I have a soft deadline to make something work by June. So I possibly could set up a VM and make this work. However, our computer is shared with a bunch of volunteers at the community center, many of whom are not very computer literate. My intuition tells me that a VM would not survive meddling from other folks. So if a VM is the only available solution with Evergreen, I think I will keep looking.
Terran, Surpass looks amazing, except for the ~$3000 price tag on it. Anything purchased is likely coming out of my pocket at this point, and there is no way I can afford that. Yunus, Openbiblio also looks good, except it runs into the same server problem that evergreen does. So I think I'll keep looking for solutions. Thanks, everyone. On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 1:47 PM, Rogan Hamby <[email protected]> wrote: > It does still require Linux skills as it's a virtual machine whether he > has that skill set or is willing to invest the time to learn it is a > pre-requisite, something I wouldn't assume from the question. > > On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 12:12 PM, Mark Ehle <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Ben did say he was decently tech savvy and asked for a way to run >> Evergreen on a pc. VirtualBox fits the bill. >> >> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 12:08 PM, McCanna, Terran < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Regardless of whether it's feasible in a Windows VM environment or not, >>> I really think that Evergreen is too complicated to set up and maintain for >>> someone who doesn't have a strong skillset in system administration. A >>> hosted ILS would be a better option, but a lot of tiny libraries can't >>> afford that either. >>> >>> Personally, if I were in Ben's position, I would investigate some of the >>> library automation system offerings that are designed specifically for >>> small libraries. Does anyone have any experience with Surpass? I haven't >>> used it, but it looks like it was designed for tiny libraries (less than >>> 5000 items) and has a standalone license option for running on a single >>> non-networked PC: http://www.surpasssoftware.com/surpass-sl.html. >>> >>> >>> Terran McCanna >>> PINES Program Manager >>> Georgia Public Library Service >>> 1800 Century Place, Suite 150 >>> Atlanta, GA 30345 >>> 404-235-7138 >>> [email protected] >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Mark Ehle" <[email protected]> >>> To: "Evergreen Discussion Group" < >>> [email protected]> >>> Sent: Sunday, January 18, 2015 11:26:53 AM >>> Subject: Re: [OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Help for a tiny library? >>> >>> We ran everything in VirtualBox for a long time. Is it the PC hardware >>> you >>> object to? Or just VM's in general. >>> >>> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 11:24 AM, Mark Ehle <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> > When you have quad-core PC's with 8gb of ram, the difference is not >>> that >>> > much. I've run production VM's on my PC in a pinch and our staff never >>> > knew. >>> > >>> > What do you suggest Ben does? >>> > >>> > >>> > On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 11:12 AM, Rogan Hamby < >>> [email protected]> >>> > wrote: >>> > >>> >> Hi Mark, >>> >> >>> >> There is a big difference between running a production system on a >>> >> desktop VM and playing with it. Running Evergreen in Virtual Box is >>> common >>> >> for developers, documenters, etc.... >>> >> >>> >> And it's important for those who don't have a systems background that >>> a >>> >> VM in a server environment and throwing up a VM on a desktop with >>> limited >>> >> resources are very different things. >>> >> >>> >> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 11:00 AM, Mark Ehle <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >> >>> >>> Not at all dubious, Rogan. We run Sirsi Symphony as a VM and have >>> been >>> >>> for years. We pretty much don't run our servers on anything else >>> *but* >>> >>> VM's. It's just how things are done now. I've run Evergreen in >>> Virtual Box >>> >>> (totally free) on my PC to play with it and it works just fine. >>> Given a >>> >>> decent enough PC,mainly enough memory, I'm sure you could run >>> Evergreen on >>> >>> a VM for a few clients for a small library. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 10:49 AM, Rogan Hamby < >>> [email protected] >>> >>> > wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>> Hi Ben, >>> >>>> >>> >>>> This was alluded to but to be clear, Evergreen isn't Windows >>> software. >>> >>>> Evergreen was built to run on Linux and is commonly run on Debian >>> though I >>> >>>> know it's used successfully on other distributions as well. >>> Honestly, as >>> >>>> much as I love to spread the love of Evergreen from what I can >>> infer from >>> >>>> your post I don't think this would be the right direction for you. >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Running a production system on a VM is dubious though possible but >>> then >>> >>>> connecting clients, doing the configuration, etc... these are going >>> to >>> >>>> require a big investment of time and energy on the part of staff. >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> On Sat, Jan 17, 2015 at 6:25 PM, Ben T. <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> >>> >>>>> Hello All, >>> >>>>> >>> >>>>> I volunteer for a tiny library that is growing. At this point >>> we're >>> >>>>> looking for a way to manage our check-outs/returns some way more >>> efficient >>> >>>>> than paper and pencil. Evergreen seems like it could be a good >>> solution >>> >>>>> for us, however we are not able to afford a server at this point >>> nor a >>> >>>>> subscription (we basically have no money). Is there any way >>> (hopefully a >>> >>>>> simple one) to run Evergreen just on a single Windows (7) machine, >>> keeping >>> >>>>> the catalog and patron information locally? >>> >>>>> >>> >>>>> Sincerely, >>> >>>>> Ben >>> >>>>> Librarian Volunteer >>> >>>>> Kendall Clawson Library >>> >>>>> >>> >>>>> p.s. I am decently tech savvy, but not VERY tech savvy. I won't be >>> >>>>> able to do any major amount of coding on my own. >>> >>>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> -- >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA >>> >>>> Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services, >>> >>>> York County Library System >>> >>>> >>> >>>> “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough >>> to >>> >>>> suit me.” >>> >>>> ― C.S. Lewis < >>> http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis> >>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> -- >>> >> >>> >> Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA >>> >> Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services, >>> >> York County Library System >>> >> >>> >> “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to >>> >> suit me.” >>> >> ― C.S. Lewis <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis> >>> >> >>> > >>> > >>> >> >> > > > -- > > Rogan Hamby, MLS, CCNP, MIA > Managers Headquarters Library and Reference Services, > York County Library System > > “You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit > me.” > ― C.S. Lewis <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1069006.C_S_Lewis> >
