Revolutionizing Websites with Apache, mySQL, and PHP3  

Open Source Defined

 Open source can be defined as the free distribution and/or redistribution of source code.  Everyone in the world has access to the code and can add or alter it to meet his/her needs.  The derived work from such source code must meet code integrity, be re-released into the public domain, and give attribution to the code’s original author.  It is an intriguing experiment in mindsharing and cooperative collaboration.

Revenue generation from open source code is not in the creation of the code  itself but in the companies added value propositions based on the use of open source tools and services.  This is the antithesis of traditional source code development.  Open source code is licensed for distribution and redistribution under various types of licenses such as the General Public License (GPL) and Berkeley Software Development (BSD) License.  These licenses define the terms and conditions under which open source code is made available and is to be used.

Antithesis of Traditional Software Development

 Traditionally, the operating system (OS) is like a black box.  You have no idea how it works or what it does.  If you need changes in software applications, you contact the developers of proprietary software and waited for them to make the “fix” for you.  There is no other alternative since the software source code is proprietary and not in the public domain.  Open source code changes that dynamic and makes it possible for users to make fixes by themselves or with the help of developers from the open source community.  Another solution would be hiring independent developers who were knowledgeable and able to reprogram the code to suit your purposes.

The Appeal of Free

 Today, websites can be created entirely with open source tools and software.  For example, Apache is an open source tool and the most popular web server in the world with an estimated 55% marketshare.  mySQL is a robust and reliable database that is also an open source product.  PHP3 is an open source scripting language that creates dynamic Web pages and serves as the glue between the database and the Web’s front end.  Together this trio of open source commodities have the advantage of being free and comparable in performance to purchased, proprietary products such as Microsoft Exchange, Oracle databases, and Sun Microsystems' Java language.  Applications written in PHP3 can be easily programmed to perform functions with less lines of code.  Apache works anywhere on many platforms and is fast and reliable.  mySQL contains data that is portable, exportable, and accommodating of cross platforms and proof-of-concept work.

The open source model is appealing because it is free.  It is compelling because everyone else is using and adopting it – to include big outfits such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, and Sun Microsystems.  As a matter of functionality, open source is powerful because it is compact and portable, is easier and cheaper to move data, and is the current “darling” of venture capitalist (VC) money.

Written by Judy Kong, TechDivas Business Analyst, in a report on the Linux World Conference, Copyright 2000, Diva Networks, All rights reserved