Ask YC: Best Resource for Configuring LAMP for a Windows Geek
10 comments
I hate to say it, but it's going to be a bit of a long, hard road. Windows and Linux are very, very different animals. And, if you're cominig from a no command line, GUI filled world, it's going to be a very steep learning curve for you.
If you're not familiar with shell scripting, it will take some time, just to learn your way around the command line. Then, you have to figure out how to install and configure Apache. That's difficult. Then, installing and configuring MySQL... Again, difficult and time consuming. Then, you're talking about installing Perl/Python/PHP scripts and having them talk to the web server, that's an additional learning curve.
I'm thinking that a very knowledgable Windows geek who has set up IIS before, and understands web dev on a Windows box, but without any linux experience whatsoever is probably looking at a couple of months of dedicated learning to get all the technologies to work together well. And then, security is an issue.
I mean, just learning how to edit a config file over the comand line using Emacs or Vi could take a week.
If you're familiar with Windows, try using WAMP on Server 2003. You can ususally get Windows 2003 hosting for a $10-20 premium over Linux hosting. There will still be a learning curve, but it will be a lot shorter.
That being said, any forray into Linux land is a good one. It teaches you a lot of really good things about how computers and networks work that you just dont' understand from a Windows only world. And, knowing *nix is a skill that won't be obsolete the next product cycle. Unix is well worth learning, but it is probably not the best option if you want to launch your startup next week.
If you're not familiar with shell scripting, it will take some time, just to learn your way around the command line. Then, you have to figure out how to install and configure Apache. That's difficult. Then, installing and configuring MySQL... Again, difficult and time consuming. Then, you're talking about installing Perl/Python/PHP scripts and having them talk to the web server, that's an additional learning curve.
I'm thinking that a very knowledgable Windows geek who has set up IIS before, and understands web dev on a Windows box, but without any linux experience whatsoever is probably looking at a couple of months of dedicated learning to get all the technologies to work together well. And then, security is an issue.
I mean, just learning how to edit a config file over the comand line using Emacs or Vi could take a week.
If you're familiar with Windows, try using WAMP on Server 2003. You can ususally get Windows 2003 hosting for a $10-20 premium over Linux hosting. There will still be a learning curve, but it will be a lot shorter.
That being said, any forray into Linux land is a good one. It teaches you a lot of really good things about how computers and networks work that you just dont' understand from a Windows only world. And, knowing *nix is a skill that won't be obsolete the next product cycle. Unix is well worth learning, but it is probably not the best option if you want to launch your startup next week.
Heh, from your commend I understand that you find windows obsolete the next product cycle :))
(an honest question) -
For the people recommending WAMP setups, I'm really curious why the typical dynamic startup would even want to use Windows. The license costs and hassles alone don't seem worthwhile (to me), when you're really utilizing very little of the OS, and more relying on the components you load (Apache, MySql, etc).
For the people recommending WAMP setups, I'm really curious why the typical dynamic startup would even want to use Windows. The license costs and hassles alone don't seem worthwhile (to me), when you're really utilizing very little of the OS, and more relying on the components you load (Apache, MySql, etc).
Windows Server licenses through an ISV program are not that expensive. Obviously Microsoft knows Linux is a big competitor. More costly are other server licenses like SQL Server and Exchange.
One reason to use Windows could be because you like .NET, Silverlight, etc. Another reason would be because you know Windows well. If you develop on Windows it may be easier to also test and deploy on Windows and administer the servers. It is easy to set up an Ubuntu server in a few hours and use apt-get for updates, but an internet facing server will probably not be very secure if you or a coworker does not have a few years of Linux experience.
In the end an OS is just a tool. I would say pick the one you are most experienced with or the one on which your chosen techology works best.
One reason to use Windows could be because you like .NET, Silverlight, etc. Another reason would be because you know Windows well. If you develop on Windows it may be easier to also test and deploy on Windows and administer the servers. It is easy to set up an Ubuntu server in a few hours and use apt-get for updates, but an internet facing server will probably not be very secure if you or a coworker does not have a few years of Linux experience.
In the end an OS is just a tool. I would say pick the one you are most experienced with or the one on which your chosen techology works best.
Why don't you use WAMP instead of LAMP ? http://www.wampserver.com/en/
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I thought about that.
I'm not opposed to going with WAMP. It's just out of everything that's stuffed into Windows, I only need a very small subset. With an imaged LAMP, I can copy and scale very easily. I guess I'd rather have 20 boxes whose CPUs were only the doing the few things I care about than all the other stuff that goes with Windows -- patches, updates, Active Directory, Kerebos, etc.
But no, I'm not ruling WAMP out. I was curious to see what kind of learning curve we're talking about moving from a windows to a LAMP environment. A couple of months ago, I downloaded a LAMP vritual appliance, but didn't have a good grasp on how to do even some very simple things.
I'm not opposed to going with WAMP. It's just out of everything that's stuffed into Windows, I only need a very small subset. With an imaged LAMP, I can copy and scale very easily. I guess I'd rather have 20 boxes whose CPUs were only the doing the few things I care about than all the other stuff that goes with Windows -- patches, updates, Active Directory, Kerebos, etc.
But no, I'm not ruling WAMP out. I was curious to see what kind of learning curve we're talking about moving from a windows to a LAMP environment. A couple of months ago, I downloaded a LAMP vritual appliance, but didn't have a good grasp on how to do even some very simple things.
For windows - http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html
I recommend linux though. :)
I recommend linux though. :)
Which P?
For php lookup Ed Tanguay.
For php lookup Ed Tanguay.
I'm a MS geek, though. Where's a good resource to get started with something like this? All I want to do is to connect to MySQL from a windows client, set up the IP of the box, and copy some files over to the proper directory for them to appear on the web. Seems like that shouldn't be a lot to do. Hey -- how hard could it be, anyway?