Running a webserver on Unix / Linux
Linux and Unix are two operating systems which are receiving more and more interest from businesses as well as users who are savvy about computing issues. What are some of the reasons that Linux and Unix have become popular? Unix is one of the most well established operating systems on the net, with a long history which stretches back to some of the earliest computers on what could be called the Internet. Unix was originally created for academic systems and business systems which had to communicate, so it is well designed for programs to share information using a robust system of definitions and data constructions.
Linux is the free operating system which has been developed by countless programmers as a free alternative to Unix – actually, there are many different flavors of Linux which have different features; all that you need, however, to handle the operating system needs of the standard business or home user is one of the most common varieties such as Red Hat Linux, which is easy to install and relatively easy to set up with intuitive graphical interface software.
One of the primary advantages that you get when you use Linux or Unix is stability. Unix gets its stability from the long period over which it has been developed – the developers of the system have had a lot of time in which to find the various bugs that there once were and to correct them. In the case of Linux, the operating system has been developed in an open source environment – this means that the code which tells the operating system how to work is available for free over the net and anyone can read it and give their input to the development team. While the various versions of Linux are controlled by people who guide the development of their respective versions in different directions, anyone who makes a good suggestion or who points out a bug is likely to be taken seriously – this has led to Linux being respected as an operating system which rarely crashes or gives users the “blue screen of death” associated with Microsoft Windows.
Another advantage that you get when you go with Linux or Unix is that they are great operating systems for a computer network or for a computer which has to work over the internet because both operating systems are designed with a framework which makes it easy for programs to work on the net. With Microsoft Windows and Mac operating systems it can be more difficult to program software which communicates over the internet, as the internet communication routines are more of an addition to existing systems.
Finally, Linux has the advantage that it is a free operating system – so you can set up the computers for your home or business and not have to pay hundreds of dollars for an operating system which is full of bugs and incompatibility problems! All of these reasons are great reasons to consider making Linux or Unix the operating system that you use for your next computer system or systems.