Linux is generally the best operating system choice for Web servers. License cost is zero, and sysadmins with strong Linux skills are easy to find. Many leading-edge techies use Linux not only as a server operating system, but also to run their home desktops and home networks for the same reasons that it is the fastest-growing Web server operating system:
The major concern which corporate managers seem to have about Linux is lack of a central company behind it to offer support and accept liability for any failures. This is a bit of a head-scratcher for Linux users who have read the End User License Agreements (EULAs) for proprietary programs, including Windows and most commercial Unix versions, that absolve their publishers of any liability for their products' failures. Support for Linux, just as for any other operating system, is typically handled by contract, either with local firms or larger, even multinational companies. IBM and Hewlett-Packard, for example, provide dedicated Linux service and support for most of their server products. Linux distribution publishers like Red Hat, SuSE, MandrakeSoft, and many others provide installation and ongoing maintenance support, plus customization and programming services for the "flavors" of Linux each one produces, and because all the different Linux versions share the same basic technical underpinnings, support for one means support for all. But the biggest secret of commercial Linux support is that you may not need it. If your sysadmins, whether full-time employees or consultants, join any one of many Linux mutual support email lists or IRC channels, they can get all the technical help they need for free. The only payment they are expected to make is to help others in return, and to freely share any modifications they make to Linux or any free software that runs on Linux with the rest of the world, just as others share freely with them. Linux has long had a reputation as a hard-to-use operating system "for geeks only," but this is no longer true. New point-and-click interfaces have been developed that make Linux very easy to set up and use. But to use all of Linux's power and depth, you still need to know how to use complex text commands in other words, to be an enterprise-level Linux guru you must be a true computer geek who delights in talking to computers in their own language. There is nothing wrong with this. You want hard-core individuals to run your servers, because those same hard-core geeks will love and cherish them, and tweak them for maximum performance, and take pride in keeping them reliable and secure every second of every hour of every day. There are several Unix variants called FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD that share many of Linux's good points (including free use), and actually have several technical advantages over Linux. But Linux has mass acceptance, and the BSDs do not. It is a "betamax vs. VHS" situation. Sometimes it is simply more prudent in a business sense to go with the accepted industry standard, and for high-reliability, low-cost Web servers, that's Linux. |