Can The Gimp be installed on a virtual (web) server?

This is a follow-up question to my previous question:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=108895

I want to run ez-gimpy http://www.captcha.net/captchas/gimpy/ which
requires <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">The Gimp</a> version 1.2.1 (an
image manipulation program that is freely distributed). Additionally,
it requires the perl module Gtk, version 0.7003 or higher. My reason
for running ez-gimpy is to prevent polling manipulation on a new
website.

I know very little about Unix, hence I’m hoping somebody can help me
out here. I am looking at having the site hosted here
http://www.virtualfocus.com/vps_advanced.html at $55/month. A shared
web server is something I can afford; a dedicated server is out of my
budget.

So my question is: can I run ez-gimpy & The Gimp without having a
dedicated web server? The reason I ask has to do with the instructions
for installing ez-gimpy:

1. YOU SHOULD HAVE IN YOUR DIRECTORY THE FOLLOWING FILES
	ez-gimpy (an executable)
	dictionary (where the words come from)
	whitesmall.tif (a white image)
	fonts (a file that says which fonts should be used)
2. THE FULL PATHS FOR A FEW FILES MUST BE SPECIFIED INSIDE THE CODE.
   GO TO "ez-gimpy" LINE 20 AND SPECIFY THEM.
3. IN ORDER TO RUN EZ-GIMPY, YOU NEED TO FIRST RUN GIMP 1.2.1. 
IN GIMP, GO TO THE XTNS MENU AND UNDER PERL, CLICK SERVER.
4. THE OUTPUT OF "ez-gimpy" CAN BE SPECIFIED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
   PROGRAM (LINES 10, 23, AND 24)
5. EZ-GIMPY NEEDS TO BE AN EXECUTABLE. TO RUN JUST RUN "ez-gimpy".


#3 says I need to run Gimp and go to the xtns menu and specify
‘server’…do I need to be at the console to do this, or can I do this
remotely, or with a command line switch?

What this all boils down to is money…is there a reputable web hosting
company that will allow me to run ez-gimpy for under $100 a month?

Hi, 

Never turn down a good answer or payment for it I always say. I thank
you for the offer, and I accept, very kind of you.

Depending on the type of security and level you are trying to achieve.
You could do a bit better than that really simply.

Using an MD5 of the current time, you could name the files with a
script and add the entires into a database. For instance, using Perl
to do this, you would query the database for every file, and it's
current name. Then MD5 the current time, rename the file to the MD5
name.gif, and update the database with the new name. Now, having that
script you can change all the names on a weekly or monthly basis,
without having to change the values or the gifs. This way, even if
someone does build a datafile of your values, it is worthless in a
week. MD5 is always 40 characters long. There are other random number
or name generators that you could use as well if that presents a
problem.

Either way is fine really, you have the right idea. It's just a matter
of how far you want to go with it and how important it really is.
Having a script handy to alter all the names in a few seconds would be
a good thing to have around. That way if your logs show a bot has hit
you, you can react rather quickly.

I'm glad you found this information useful to you. 

Thanks, 

webadept-ga

Pointed me in a better direction than I was originally headed towards.
Valuable insight, thanks. Google answers are a bargain!

There are a lot better ways of doing this than the way you have
chosen, and what you are trying to do is rather server/resource
intensive. I doubt anyone that is a professional ISP is going to let
you do this on a non-dedicated server. I love GIMP and use it as my
primary tool for images, much better than photoshop in a number of
ways. But it's not something an ISP is going to want loaded for
webaccess. If you want some resources to other methods of doing this
then you may find a faster answer.

Thanks for the input. It's greatly appreciated. You mentioned "There
are a lot better ways of doing this..." I have outlined all of the
methods I know of in the previous question
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=108895. What
are the better methods? Where would I go to find other methods of
doing this? I'll pose the original question a second time if I need
to.

I don't want to comment on webadept-ga comment but if you did want to
do it a different way it occurs to me that you could generate a large
set of gifs off-line (the product you're looking at only uses a
dictionary of 850 words) and simply load these onto any webserver you
like.

On each page serve select one of these images at random for inclusion
in that page.

Would that do the trick ? It removes any resource issues and any
restrictions that the hoster may place on you.

Southof40's idea is really ideal. All you need there is access to a
database, or even a text file with links to the images. Perl, ASP,
PHP, or really just about any web language (except javascript
perhaps). Any ISP out there would allow that. 850 images with a
datafile/textfile system would load fast, operate smoothly and
wouldn't be hampered by high traffic moments on your website. Really,
even though it appears somewhat low tech, it's an optimal solution to
that problem.

The way you are looking at doing it requires several changes on a
server, several libraries installed and maintained during upgrades. If
you do happen to find an ISP willing and able to do this for you, what
happens if you want to switch ISP's? You are stuck, that's what
happens, or you are shelling out a lot of money to get setup someplace
else with all the hassles and costs the original setup took to get
started.

If you look at those demo sites a few times give to you in the last
answer, you'll see that those pages load really slow, even though you
are probably the only one looking at them at that time. Also, one of
them has an error in it. With static pictures, nether of those things
will happen.

This is just comment stuff, but if I was under consultation to your
company I would push the low tech solution for stability and speed
reasons far above depending on a set of experimental libraries keeping
my website working. After 10 years, you learn simplicity is the better
answer by far in any WWW setup.

I hope this helps you, if not then please disregard the comment. It's
why I'm posting down here instead of up in the answer area. I wish you
the best in your efforts and great success in your project.

webadept-ga

Thank you for your suggestions southof40 and webadept! I’ve done a lot
of searching to see if anyone has implemented a Gimpy captcha but I’ve
only found huge companies like yahoo and paypal. Webadept, your
comments and my research have lead me to realize a simpler solution
would be far better. That said my original question has essentially
been answered, and if you are a Google Answers Researcher I would like
to give you credit for your time. Go ahead and post a reply in the
answers section.

By the way, here is the “simpler” solution I’m working on, comment if
you like…
 
Let’s say I create a directory with 100 gifs, and name them 1.gif
through 100.gif, and I have a database file that has the “key” to each
image. For example 1.gif may be a picture of the text “ABC123”. So the
key to 1.gif is ABC123.

Then in rough logic I do this:

RNDno = a random number between 1 and 100
copy RNDno.gif to a new file called UniqueTempName.gif.
Then I serve up UniqueTempName.gif and if the user inputs the correct
key for RNDno they continue, else they get an error with a new try.

This way, even if a bot knew all 100 “keys”, they would still only
have 1 in 100 chance of getting it right.