Hi all,

I'm very new to both this forum (found it through Lisa's www.2createawebsite.com) and website building in general so please forgive me if I ask some very elementary questions.

I bought a domain through GoDaddy yesterday as I've used them before for other domains and Website Tonight. However, I would like to build this next site from scratch and learn the nitty gritty of how it all works.

Since I'm familiar with GoDaddy and their great customer service I went ahead and got my hosting through them as well. My question is this:

1. They ask if you want your server through Linux or Windows. What are the pros/cons for each? Their customer service said Linux is used for php and Windows is used for asp and coding. Like I know what that means!

I have Windows Vista, if that makes a difference. I was told I could switch from one to the other later on so I chose Windows. But before I start dinkering on my site I'd like to know if I should switch or stay. Is it even a big issue?

2. And depending on which server I use, is there a Content Management system you all would recommend? Here are their choices:

Community Server
DotNetNuke
Drupal
Joomla
Mambo
Moodle
Nucleus
PostNuke
Xoops

If I understand correctly, Linux seems to be more compatable to a wider variety of these. Do I have that right?

Thanks for your help, I'm going to keep browsing and learning. . .

Paula

Paula

There are others who are real tech guys and could answer better I'm sure, but since no one else has answered yet here's my two cents. I do know a little about it.

php is the most widely used open source (translation, "free") programming language for web work and I think the most widely used, period. It is used often with MySQL (a database program) which is also open source . ASP does similar stuff, as do many other programs, but they cost more. ASP is sometimes labeled M$ ASP. Usually the line, "You get what you pay for" is true, but in this case many programmers would say that php is the best even if it is free.

If you ever expect to use contact forms to collect data or anything like that it is a primary way to go. Also, a lot of sites use php files because you can put programming on your domain site that can't be seen in the source page for your site. It is one of the easiest languages to learn but is very powerful.

A simple web project might not need it, but if you anticipate any potentially more complicated projects in the future you might want to plan for it now. Personally I would recommend it. It was one of the essential requirements I looked for in choosing my web host.

Good Success!

James

Windows and Linux both support PHP and mySQL. But Linux does not support ASP.net.
ASP is more of an application coding language than PHP which is web interface language. ASP allows you to do some more stuff, but most people wouldn't need any of these, for example when you update windows via web update from www.update.microsoft.com you see the ASP.net working. You basically get the application window inside the web browser, PHP can't do that.

But there are also other very important differences. Windows has more security issues when not protected properly. Also Windows is slower and less stable than linux. Linux has greater support (Open source communities). Linux is free. Most of the linux's software is free, for example when you want to run a windows server you would have to buy windows itself, then you need to buy extra software, like msSQL to use databases etc.
And these are the reasons why 99% of web servers run Linux.

I would switch over to linux, mainly because linux servers are more secure and stable. Also if you're beginner then 99% of the tutorials concerning website creation are made for use with linux server.


EDIT: Oh, and for CMS I would suggest WordPress, I tried a lot of CMS's all the most popular ones as well as some new comers.. I find WordPress by far the easiest to work with. It has tons of plugins, it is easy to customize it, it is free..

And I would have to disagree about "You get what you pay for".. it may apply to "Real World" but @internetz in many cases free, open source software is by far superior to commercial competitor. With exceptions of course Millions of dollars from companies help commercial stuff a lot.. which is the only reason for these exceptions.

I mean look at it..
Only reason I don't use GIMP is because it has very different interface from Photoshop and I simply don't wish to learn everything from the beginning again.
Only reason I don't use Linux as my main boot OS is that I would have to re-learn how to do everything.

How I wish that my first computer would have Linux instead of Windows.. when I would have as much experience with Linux as I have with Windows I would most likely be about 27x better coder, know 27x more about computers and have much faster workflow. And spend 27x less time on pointless stuff like.. figuring out why the hell Vista needs to ask every single thing twice or more from me..

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Thank you James and MentalClinic.

From what you've both said and what I've found, Linux is the way to go. In fact, I've already switched over. Thanks for the help!

Paula

Linux users tend to be sometimes fanatic in their support for their favorite operating system. The power of their convictions may be very impressive, but that shouldn't be the only reason to believe they're right. On the other hand, the average Linux user is somewhat more knowledgeable than the average individual when it comes to computers, so there's a higher chance that he knows what he's talking about.
Windows doesn't seem to have that many true fans or they're not that vocal.

Hey all Thank 4 ur info.......I was blindly thinking windows is best......but after reading this im convinced that i should also go to linux...

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Wow!!!!you guys are the best......I was going to place my order with Hostgator and when I got to where they asked "Linux" or "Windows"....I went totally blank......totally!!!

Thanks Paula for bringing it up!!......Kudos James and Mentalclinic. I feel more knowledgable now.

Phew! wonder when I'll get used to all those terms....cms,asp,php....just too much to learn!!

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How can one use Worpress as CMS?

can one manage a linux site with a windows pc?

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nkoli,

Essentially, you would be installing the Wordpress platform to run your website... so your website would be a Wordpress blog hosted on your own. In order to do this (I am assuming you already signed up for Hostgator): login in to your Hostgator account > cPanel > Fantastico De Luxe > select and install Wordpress

Yes. All your really need to manage your site is an internet connection to connect to your host's servers, so it doesn't really matter what kind of operating system your computer is.

Hope this helps.

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I had a feeling Linux was better. I put a simple machines forum on a client's site once and had to switch him from windows to Linux because windows didn't support it. In fact, at Godaddy, Windows had fewer plugins altogether.

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nkoli

You have already received what you need to know but I will add just a comment. You wrote:

Originally Posted by nkoli
If you have windows on your computer and linux on your host you probably have the best combination.

Unless you are a guru running linux on your personal computer is questionable. Even if you are, it is limiting in many ways, particuarly in software availability.

On the other hand, a linux operated host has many advantages. It makes it easier to make good use of less expensive resources (open source) instead of the expensive (Microsoft) ones.

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Good Success!
James
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"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."

Yes you can work with windows on your computer and have linux hosting account to mange your server you will not see the difference.

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