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How To Install Prism 0.8 on Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon

November 5th, 2007 · Posted by Toor · 13 Comments

Prism is based on Webrunner. It allows users split web applications out of their browser and run them directly on their desktop. This is really a great idea. This HOWTO shows how you can install Prism 0.8 on Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon.

Installing Prism

1. Download Prism 0.8 for Linux with the following commands in your terminal:

cd ~/Desktop/
wget http://starkravingfinkle.org/projects/webrunner/prism-0.8-linux.tar.bz2

2. Extract the tarball file to /opt/ folder:

sudo tar jxvf prism-0.8-linux.tar.bz2 -C /opt/

3. Now execute these commands:

sudo chown -R root:root /opt/prism/
sudo chmod -R 755 /opt/prism/

4. Create a menu:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/prism.desktop

Then add:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Prism
Comment=Prism
Exec=/opt/prism/prism
Icon=/opt/prism/chrome/icons/default/webrunner48.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Application;Network;
StartupNotify=true

Using Prism

1. To run Prism, you can click Applications → Internet → Prism menu item.

Prism

2. Create shortcuts for web applications. For example, Gmail.

Prism

Here’s a screenshot:

Prism

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Tags: How-Tos

13 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Gilbert // Nov 6, 2007 at 4:14 am

    Thank you for this! been having a hard time running and installing webrunner of my gutsy. But with this tutorial of prism, things get much better and bigger!

    now its running!

    didn’t know that a few code would do the trick! thanks a lot!

  • 2 darmot7 // Nov 6, 2007 at 12:16 pm

    i think this application would be cool if i knew how to make it so checkgmail would open up prism instead of firefox upon clicking the icon.

    when i enter into the checkgmail properties and make it execute the command prism u% it does nothing, whereas if you put firefox u% it opens up link for firefox.

    anyone know how would i go by linking that properly?

  • 3 Brian // Nov 7, 2007 at 7:51 pm

    I didn’t know about this cool app until I stumbledupon your blog. Thanks!

  • 4 Michael // Nov 7, 2007 at 11:52 pm

    Are Firefox-Addons working on Prism? Especially Greasemonkey, which I use to customize my Gmail Interface.

  • 5 rob_botch // Nov 11, 2007 at 9:08 am

    Thanks for this HowTo, I’ve been using Prism on Windows and have only just made the switch. I do have one problem, however. Whenever I try to load Prism, I just get an error message, saying “Failed to execute child process “/opt/prism/prism” (No such file or directory)”. Trying to bash /opt/prism/prism returns the message “could not execute binary file”. I wondered whether you knew of any solution to this?

  • 6 zypres // Nov 14, 2007 at 12:28 pm

    Rob: Try to install from another user, or change chmod-thing?

    This is perfect, but I still have problem with the MIME-type of webapps-files. They still look like zip-files here in linux.

    A nice tips for those trying to open webapp-files:
    /opt/prism/prism -webapp /link/to/file.webapp

  • 7 cptvitamin // Nov 19, 2007 at 1:13 pm

    darmot: %u parameter does not translate to prism. to get prism (or checkgmail) to open up gmail you need to pass the command prism -webapp /path/to/gmail.webapp

    Michael: I believe you can copy your add-ons and modules from your firefox folder into your prism folder to get them to work. This needs verification though.

    I am having the same problem rob_botch is having. I have installed prism successfully on 2 Ubuntu boxes and one gOS box. I get the same error rob_botch is getting on my Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon 64-bit install. As I just typed that I realized it probably has something to do with the fact this is a 64-bit OS… hmmm… Can anyone confirm and/or suggest a solution?

  • 8 cptvitamin // Nov 19, 2007 at 1:17 pm

    Oh yeah, the quickest way to add prism to your $PATH in Ubuntu anyway is to create a bin/ folder in your home directory, then make a symbolic link to /opt/prism/prism.
    Also, check your ~/.prism/webapps dir. There should be a directory for each webapp you have successfully installed.
    Now: /opt/prism/prism -webapp /path/to/file.webapp
    Becomes: prism -webapp app@domain.com

  • 9 andotyjazz // Nov 30, 2007 at 6:42 am

    Wow. Thanks so very much. I truly love Prism. Thanks man. This ones rock.

  • 10 charleszz // Nov 30, 2007 at 9:46 pm

    Imagine the possibilities!! :) develop one app and launch it everywhere without the hassle of opening a browser..would be great if ruby could tap its power :) GREAT work.. web 3.0 anyone?? :)

  • 11 Naser // Feb 8, 2008 at 11:31 pm

    Awesome :) This actually worked. Unlike most of those custom “Package Installer” tutorials on the web which just end up with errors like “Dependency Not Met. Install unbelievably-difficult-lib-package-no-where to be found”" etc.

  • 12 regan // Feb 11, 2008 at 6:53 pm

    I installed it and it runs, but it won’t display text in any of the webapps I run.

    Screenshot here: http://flickr.com/photos/cool_dry_place/2259522922/

  • 13 solardeity // Feb 22, 2008 at 6:27 am

    how do i use flash-player and java-plugin on prisim, i installed prism with these ubuntu pakages http://zchan.homeunix.net/pub/Ubuntu.APP/PRISM.GUTSY/

    but i cant use gtalk because of no flash-plugin (i have it installed and works with firefox)

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