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by bornhuetter 4668 days ago
I was excited to try this out until I saw that it won't work on Linux, and won't work on Windows without installing Apple's Bonjour. What possessed them to do this?

Does anyone know if there is a way to use this on Linux or Windows without installing nagware on my main machine?
4 comments
elg0nz 4668 days ago
Avahi Daemon is the server side used in the Raspberry Pi. The client side is ZeroConf https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToZeroconf

Both run freely on Linux. On Windows you can try this Mono Implementation http://mono-project.com/Mono.Zeroconf

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glitch003 4668 days ago
You absolutely don't have to install the apple Bonjour crap to use this. The only thing that is used for is the automatic .local hostname resolution.

Essentially, the Raspberry Pi has the netatalk package on it which allows it to broadcast it's own .local hostname. This is what makes it possible for a user to simply type "coder.local" into the URL bar in chrome and have the Raspberry Pi's IP address resolved.

So if you leave out the apple bonjour packages, you'll just have to figure out the IP address yourself and use the IP instead of the fancy "coder.local" hostname. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, from scanning your network to just plugging in a HDMI cable and a keyboard to the RPi and doing an "ifconfig".

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mhurron 4668 days ago
Nitpick, it's not netatalk, the .local is resolved by Avahi, the Linux/BSD zeroconf implementation.

Incidentally, zeroconf is why it is not advisable to use internal *.local domains.

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mannkind 4668 days ago
That's not a nitpick. Zeroconf isn't even "Apple's thing" … Bonjour is just one implementation.

That guy is ranting because ranting makes him feel important.

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bornhuetter 4668 days ago
Ok great, that's good to hear. I know how to find my RPi's IP address (I bought one last week and itching to get stuck into it)

Half the point of the RPi is for it to be a cheap, accessible Linux box for learning, and was pretty appalled when I thought that that this tool completely locked out Linux users.

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jmstriegel 4668 days ago
If you're using Linux, just install avahi-daemon and you should be able to connect to coder.local without having to find the device's IP address.

mDNS/Zeroconf/Bonjour is an easy way to get up and running in a headless setup, but the Coder download is just a minimally modified Raspbian distribution, so you can also ssh in and tweak it to do whatever you like.

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eddieroger 4668 days ago
Just a guess, but because a big part of the simple approach meant leaving things like DNS and IP Addresses out of the path to making something? You have to use their build, which I'm guessing as some mDNS stuff baked in (yes, it does - http://coder.local) with a pre-arranged name, and without Bonjour installed, a Windows box wouldn't find it.
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glitch003 4668 days ago
Exactly. So if you didn't install the Apple crap, you would just have to track down the IP of the RPi somehow and use that instead of the fancy "coder.local" hostname
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eddieroger 4668 days ago
If you can do all that, you don't need a super-simple beginner's guide to programming that this is trying to be. They're trying to reduce barriers.
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stass 4668 days ago
Why do you call bonjour crap?
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stass 4668 days ago
Zeroconf works on all platforms, there are multiple implementations available. Avahi is one of the most popular in opensource world.
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