Aug 24 2009 1:27PM GMT

Shine a LAMP on Open Source Web Server Technology

Ed Tittel Profile: Ed Tittel

Speaking of other good old ideas on technology, I stumbled across a couple of articles on LAMP recently that reminded me this potent combination of Linux-Apache-MySQL-and-scripting-languages-like-Perl-PHP-or-Python is still alive and kicking. In the wake of Sun’s acquisition of MySQL (and the infolding to Oracle) it’s interesting that Sun’s interest in and commitment to LAMP continues unabated. In fact, rumors are swirling that a Sun-sponsored LAMP certification may be in the offing (you can already take a LAMP test from Indian ISO 9001 company ExpertRating, and of course numerous certs already address other LAMP components individual, especially Linux, MySQL, and PHP).

For those IT professionals and organizations seeking Web server technologies that are both sustainable and maintainable, LAMP is certainly worth a close and careful examination. If you’re unfamiliar with this concept, you might start your investigation with the Wikipedia “LAMP (software bundle)” article, or dig into the various references cited therein (the External links section also includes some good stuff as well). Certainly, the O’Reilly ONLamp website merits a visit, and you’ll find numerous books dedicated to LAMP as well, including:

James Lee and Brent Ware: Open Source Development with LAMP… (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0201770612)
Eric Rosebrock and Eric Filson: Setting up LAMP… (Sybex, 2004, ISBN-13: 978-0782143379)
Jason Gerner, et al: Professional LAMP… (Wrox Press, 2005, ISBN-13: 978-076497237)

Those already familiar with this technology should be cheered to learn that more credible and substantial certification in this area may be in the offing. Those to whom LAMP is new should probably dig into to see if there’s something of potential interest or use in this combination of open source technologies.