I.1 The Best of All Possible Worlds...

Using free Open Source programs, a web site can be created for the truly amazing price of $0.00 ”zero, nada, zilch. ^[3] You can download Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl/PHP to develop world-class, powerful, and useful web sites ”thus the acronym, and the LAMP that will light our way. Of course, you could spend as much money as you like and get a web site running with commercial software, but we think there are good reasons, aside from initial and ongoing expenses, to use free Open Source solutions.

^[3] Well, no cash outlay and a bunch of mental elbow grease, anyway; and, of course, there are obvious issues to take up with your ISP should your web site become popular.

One common criticism of Open Source as a solution is that it's only free if your time isn't worth anything. This is true in one sense, but not in another. All software ”free or commercial, Open Source or closed ”takes time and effort to learn and to apply.

The following are several reasons this book should be a valuable resource as you turn to Open Source software:

• It distills the essential knowledge needed to create a good, secure, standards-compliant, Open Source web site in one place.

• It provides alternatives to commercial solutions.

• It documents widely used Open Source programs.

• It shares the fun we've had using Open Source software.