Open-source LAMP a beacon to developers
Wednesday, June 15, 2005 02:10 PM
For years, the business-software development world has been split largely between Microsoft's .Net toolset and Java. Get ready for a third option.
For years, the business-software development world has been split largely between Microsoft's .Net toolset and Java. Get ready for a third option.
The so-called LAMP stack of open-source software--which includes the Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL database and scripting languages PHP, Perl or Python--is pushing its way into mainstream corporate computing.
One of several smaller companies betting on the LAMP stack, start-up ActiveGrid announced on Monday partnerships that, combined with new software, could help expand LAMP's appeal among big companies. Partners include MySQL, Apache management provider Covalent, Linux company Novell and PHP tool maker Zend Technologies.
The efforts of companies such as these to make LAMP more industrial strength--combined with growing interest among corporate customers in open source--are making LAMP a more cohesive and competitive offering to Microsoft's .Net and Java products, said Stephen O'Grady, an analyst at RedMonk.
"LAMP is still viewed as a collection of piece parts that aren't really certified to work together. But the various participants in that stack and on top of that stack are doing a good job of driving it forward and making it just another stack," O'Grady said.
The individual components of the LAMP stack have been around for many years. But the combination of components--or similar open-source stacks--is increasingly being viewed by vendors, customers and venture investors as a unified platform for building and running business applications. These "stacks" aren't so much vertical entities, with each element layered on the other, as they are a looser collection of building blocks that can be put together to build various types of Web applications.
Indeed, several companies are staking out businesses around the open-source software rather than aligning with Microsoft's .Net or with Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) server software and tools. In many cases, the plan is to make LAMP more battle-tested and palatable to corporate customers.
Shining a light on LAMP industry
ActiveGrid's Application Server software, set for release in July, is designed to combine several individual servers running LAMP software to tackle demanding computing jobs. The company will give away a low-end product and charge for a more functional server aimed at large corporate customers.
Covalent makes management tools for handling large installations of Apache Web servers. And a handful of services companies, including SourceLabs, Optaros and SpikeSource, are looking to provide support and application-development services to corporations.
Meanwhile, some packaged-application companies are going with LAMP-like open-source options, eschewing Microsoft's .Net and Java.
SugarCRM, which released an open-source sales application this year, built its programs using the LAMP stack, which is included with its offering.
Another independent software vendor, Journyx, decided to build its Web-based time-sheet application with open-source components instead of Java. In this case, company engineers used Python, Linux, Apache and the PostgreSQL open-source database.
That combination of freely available software allows Journyx to let prospective customers use the software for free, which
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