[thelist] Linux/PHP/MySQL advantages over WinNT/ASP/MSSQL?

[Steve Cook]

Hi from Sweden Lauri :-)

I'm gonna wade into this one as well, though I don't have a huge amount
extra to add over what the others have said, but there's a couple of areas
of your mail where I thought I may be able to help with some advice.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lauri Väin [mailto:optima at hot.ee]
<SNIP>
> I don't want to run to the design company to ask them to 
> re-code something every
> time somebody needs a form based survey, poll, order form or 
> something like
> that, as it would be extremely time-consuming (Would they 

Well, this is understandable. What other options are available to you? If
the company standardises on ASP, you may find that you can slot in much of
the functionality yourself through various free scripts etc. If a
functionality request is much harder, then maybe it should be considered as
a separate project. 

The sort of extra functions you just mentioned are extremely easy to
integrate throough a variety of free solutions - ther are HUGE asp code
libraries available on the net and many of the scripts are so simple to
integrate that even a complete ASP beginner can use them. If you need
something custom coded, it's maybe better to get it custom coded anyway. 

What is your responsibility here? It sounds to me as though your areas of
responsibility haven't been defined properly. Are you *supposed* to be
coding new additions to the Intranet? Or is your area of responsibility more
to do with information update?

> code the things needed
> right away? You wish! ). As many employees want stuff like I 
> just mentioned, it
> would be easier if I could code the things needed myself.
> I know PHP (I chose to learn it instead of ASP as PHP is 
> open-source and it's
> free). The WinNT version of PHP is not as bug-free as the 
> *nix version is si
> Linux would be better than WinNT. And no, I don't have the 
> time to learn ASP (as
> I'm 16 years old and still go to school and I have some 
> hobbys too - on of my
> hobbys is my work, I love it!) nor do I want to learn it as it's not
> cross-platform 
> 
Hmm, I'm a little confused by all this. On the one hand, you have
responsibility for all these upgrades and stuff in a company Intranet. On
the other hand you're 16 and still at school. Are you on a work placement?
Or do you do this work for the company part time? Either way my advice is
"slow down" :-) You don't need to solve the company's entire information
architecture problem today! As others have mentioned, this company has
sysadmins and an information strategy. It's gonna be real hard for you to
bend that to your own will.

Secondly, in what way is ASP not cross-platform compared to PHP? Check out
ChiliASP which runs on Linux. There are other free Linux based ASP
alternatives as well. OK, ASP isn't open in the way that PHP is, but you can
still use it across a range of OS solutions.

Thirdly, I'm glad you love your work, but I would recommend that a more open
attitude towards different software technologies would increase your value!
I too prefer open solutions to closed solutions. I "grew up" programming
perl, but moved on to ASP when there was no PHP, because it had a WAY better
development time than perl. Then about a year and a half ago, I started
running Linux at home and now prefer to use PHP for my own development
projects. But get this... despite the fact that I MUCH prefer using PHP to
ASP, as the manager for a whole company's website, I've chosen ASP. There's
a multitude of reasosn, but at the end of the day it comes down to this... 
	Application development languages are tools. 
	Different jobs require different tools.
	Choose the right tool for the job.
	Learn to use as many tools as possible.

By taking such a hardline approach, you are simply cutting yourslef off from
being useful in more ways. I recommend that you build your PHP skills.
Evangalise PHP as much as you like, but take a peek at ASP. Start learning
how to integrate some basic ASP scripts perhaps. Suddenly, you'll have a new
skill on your resume and you'll be twice as valuable to future employers.
Even better, you'll be someone who can evaluate the various needs a company
has and dispassionately make decisiosn about the underlying technology that
are steered by the real factors at play in the company, rather than simply
your personal choice.

Good luck - You've got a hell of a lot of time ahead of you to experiment
with different technologies - both open and closed. I hope you enjoy it :-)

.steve


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