gistfile1.rb

# $ irb

>> require 'rack'
=> true

# to create and run a basic Rack application

>> Rack::Handler::Thin.run lambda {|e| [200, {}, ["Hello World!"]] }

Thin web server (v1.2.1 codename Asynctilicious Ultra Supreme)
Maximum connections set to 1024
Listening on 0.0.0.0:8080, CTRL+C to stop

# goto http://localhost:8080 and you'll see your simple app

# want to run an app that comes out of the box with Rack that 
# serves a directory of files and even shows directory listings, etc?

>> Rack::Handler::Thin.run Rack::Directory.new('/home/remi/some-dir')

Thin web server (v1.2.1 codename Asynctilicious Ultra Supreme)
Maximum connections set to 1024
Listening on 0.0.0.0:8080, CTRL+C to stop

# goto http://localhost:8080 and you'll see all of the files 
# in some-dir and .html files will be served up as HTML, 
# images as images, etc etc  :)

# to run the whole thing from BASH, you can:
# $ ruby -rrubygems -e "require 'rack'; Rack::Handler::Thin.run Rack::Directory.new('/home/remi/desktop')"