This is how I got autotest to work with Linux:

1. Install autotest via: gem install autotest
2. Create a .autotest file on your home folder which contains this:

   #!/bin/ruby require 'autotest/gnomenotify'

3. Create a gnomenotify.rb at $GEM_HOME/gems/ZenTest-x.y.z/lib/autotest/ which contains:

   # -*- ruby -*- # Adapted from PeepCode RSpec screencast no 1, # who got it from someone else! # Adapted with tip from http://ph7spot.com/articles/getting_started_with_autotest # by DitoCujo (http://ditoinfo.wordpress.com) module Autotest::GnomeNotify EXPIRATION_IN_SECONDS = 5 ERROR_ICON = "gtk-dialog-error" SUCCESS_ICON = "gtk-dialog-info" def self.notify(title, msg, icon) options = "-t #{EXPIRATION_IN_SECONDS * 1000} -i #{icon}" system "notify-send #{options} '#{title}' '#{msg}'" end Autotest.add_hook :ran_command do |at| results = [at.results].flatten.join("\n") output = results.slice(/(\d+)\s+examples?,\s*(\d+)\s+failures?(,\s*(\d+)\s+not implemented)?/) if output if $~[2].to_i > 0 notify "FAIL", "#{output}", ERROR_ICON else notify "Success!", "#{output}", SUCCESS_ICON end end end end

4. Run autotest from rails root: autotest

I recommend getting the spork gem to speed up tests.

If I ever skipped some parts or you encounter any errors, please let me know as I’ve had this running for quite some time now and I don’t want to mess up my current setup just to recreate the steps.