what applications are driving the use of Linux?
I think the main application at this point is Apache web server. It is by far the most popular server on the web. It is open source like Linux. It is included in most Linux distributions (just like IIS is included for free with NT Server).
Here's more info from a salon press release on their redesign:
newsalert.com
To provide new services to users and build a more robust publishing environment, Salon.com has moved its Web servers from Windows NT to a customized version of Linux paired with the Apache Web server. Combined with Salon.com's new, custom-developed, database-driven publishing platform, the new technology will allow Salon.com to offer users new delivery options, including easier, customizable printing and e-mail services. The new custom publishing system will also allow Salon to better syndicate content to portals and other sites.
Says Chad Dickerson, vice-president of technology, "Salon keeps posting more and more new content every day. With our new publishing and Web serving infrastructure, centered around proven free software like Linux, Apache and Perl, our users will be able to access our content and our archives much more easily."
They're not the only ones doing that, either -- although, as several folks have pointed out, the adoption of Linux is just as likely to affect Unix vendors. One of the ISPs I use for web sites had an all-Sun system. Many of their services are now running on Linux, including all of the web servers and an ftp server. Another ISP I use has been a Digital Unix shop for years. They've stuck with that for most of their systems, but have started to ease the web load by moving some pages off to Linux systems. Commercial web clients still get their pages served by a Digital Alpha machine, but some of the shell users have had pages moved to Linux. |
