Forum Moderators: mack
Dave.
1) You can use either - depending on some things you want to do one may be better than the other for you
2) The OS you are running on your desktop is not a factor.
hehehe, I'll let the saber rattlers decide which of the two companies belongs in the blank 8^)
Reliable- Depends, I prefer *nix (safely sitting on the fence)
Scripting Languages- You can't run .asp on a Unix system.
If you need a database, the licensing on Win servers isn't cheap.
Scripting Languages- You can't run .asp on a Unix system.
... but it's not all that common.
Basically its worth dipping your toes in too IIS5 on the Win2000 box, and then also into Apache on Linux. The reality is money against time, though which ever way you are choosing, the will both consume time until you know that you have a strong (not crashing), relatively inpenatrable host,
I am biased since I started with unix. I did a little work on a Windows hosted site for a client and it drove me nuts - I couldn't get anything to work the way I wanted to - granted it was a homegrown system and not totally setup correctly.
I think to a small degree it depends on what you are planning to do with the website (you can do anything you want with either system really). If you are just going to do a small static site of the hobby variety then you could literally flip a coin because none of the issues between the 2 systems are going to affect you. Also, if it's just a personal site with no bells and whistles then you may want to save some $$$ and go with unix.
1) If you have existing ASP code you want to use, it will be somewhere between difficult and impossible to run it on a Unix system.
2) Depending on the host and the skills of the programmers involved, access to Windows-based data repositories like Access or M$ SQL Server *may* be harder. There *are* drivers for both of those, but since I've never kept data on Windows I haven't had occasion to compare their ease of use with that of the more common Unix choices for the same niche.
That said, I'd never voluntarily use proprietary anything - and that goes for proprietary Unix as well as Windows. I've run into far too many problems in the proprietary software world that arose directly from the proprietary development model. I'm alergic to Windows, which isn't the case with proprietary Unix, but I can't really reccomend either in good conscience. If you want to deploy on NetBSD (open-source), I can't reccomend that you hire me to set up the server, but I don't see the same expensive hassles in your future that I would with closed-source systems.
Furthermore, if you don't know what ASP is, then I think you might as well go ahead and learn PHP or Perl instead. They can both fill the same problem space as ASP, and can both run on *nix or Windows servers. JSP might be another option with simillar benefits, but I don't really know much about it.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know which side wears the halos and which one has horns. I also know people who disagree and still have my respect.
If you're going to be using some of the more popular perl/php bulletin board scripts etc you may want to look at unix over windows. Usually there are some modifications that need to made to make perl work under windows.
If all you're doing is uploading HTML files, MS or *nix are functionaly identical. If that's all you're doing then the only real difference is price. *nix systems tend to be cheaper due to licensing costs the host has to pay (probably no licensing on *nix systems).
If you are getting into script/program developement, Windows platforms have a reputation for being easier/faster to develop on. As mentioned above some types of programs won't run on one system or the other. So if you have predeveloped programs you need to run, make sure the system will run them. For example '.asp' programs are typically run on Windows machines, not *nix.
As a Windows user, if you are getting into script/program development *nix systems are going to be non-intuitive. However *nix systems do have a reputation for being secure and stable (this is the area where people get into holy wars). As well, you will probably find lots of free but very functional software for *nix systems.
Ultimately, if you are not doing anything too fancy, go with what's the best price. For low end applications the hosting company you go with will have more to do with your satisfaction than anything.
For low end applications the hosting company you go with will have more to do with your satisfaction than anything.
Agreed. I'd go as far as to leave out the "low end" part.
There are excellent and horrible hosting companies, regardless
of platform they base their machines on.
That said, this message is being typed on a Linux desktop
machine, so hosting companies being equal, that gives
away my preference.
1) If you have existing ASP code you want to use, it will be somewhere between difficult and impossible to run it on a Unix system.
I am using Chili!Asp on a *nix host without problems.
