Here is a quick guide to downloading the latest Status.Net code from Git and installing it on Fedora 14. This is to get the testing branch which contains all the fun new features, but it is also unsupported and may contain bugs. The instructions will work similarly on other types of Linux such as Red Hat, Ubuntu, and Debian.
StatusNet (formerly Laconica) is an open source microblogging service similar to Twitter, Yammer, and Google Buzz. While StatusNet 0.9.7 feels basic like Twitter, the update to StatusNet 1.0 makes StatusNet much more like (in terms of features) Yammer, a closed, cloud service targeted at enterprises .
Open a terminal and run these commands:
su - # login as root
# install prerequisities
yum install mysql mysql-server php-mysql apache php-xml php-domxml-php4-php5 git
cd /var/www/html # the web server document directory
git clone git://gitorious.org/statusnet/mainline.git statusnet.testing # this takes a while
git checkout testing # checkout the testing branch
find -type d -name .git -exec rm -rf {} \; # delete git junk (unless you want to update later)
find -type f -name .gitignore -exec rm -f {} \;
chmod g+w . avatar background file # allow apache to make changes
chown apache . avatar background file
cp htaccess.sample .htaccess #
vim .htaccess # change line 10 to /statusnet/
mysqladmin -u (username) -p create statusnet
mysql -u (username) -p
# Type your mysql root password (different than your Linux
# root password) to enter MySQL database client.
# Then in MySQL, type the following GRANT command:
#GRANT ALL on statusnet.* TO 'statusnetuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'statusnetpassword';
# Press CTRL-D to quit MySQL.
cd ..
ln -s statusnet.testing statusnet # I like a symlink to keep track of versions
vim /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf # at the end add the following three lines
#<Directory "/var/www/html/statusnet">
#AllowOverride All
#</Directory>
service httpd restart # restart Apache web serve
# Launch install in web browser.
# Do not install with localhost in URL if you want remote users to access it.
xdg-open http://public-server-name/statusnet/install.php
Easy! Now you may want to setup Sendmail for SMTP email and other optional features. I tested with Fedora 14, Apache 2.2, MySQL 5.1, PHP 5.3, and StatusNet 1.0 (pre-release).
If you get stuck, read the README file, ask on the Status.Net forums, or search Google.
Here are a list of new features I have noticed in StatusNet 1.0 since 0.9.7:
- Replies are indented under the original topic
- New kinds of posts: bookmarks, polls, questions, and events
- Plugins
- Invitations
- New theme
- Instead of showing my username, it shows my display name
- More AJAX
