derStandard.at: Why did you choose the Apache license as a default?
Chris DiBona: We really like it, it has a couple of things which make it very modern. Obviously you are getting a copyright grant, you are free to use and modify the software - like with all open source licenses. But it also says for any patents that we have in relation to that software we are giving you a license free of charge, and your users can too. The only exception is, if you sue us - well you don’t have that grant anymore. If you don’t - it’s yours, you don’t have to worry about us sneaking up on you later.
That’s a very good reason to use the Apache License (version 2.0) over MIT or BSD licenses.
"Install Apache with your web application running under mod_php, mod_perl or some other persistence engine for your language. Then you get famous and start getting emails about people not being able to access your website."
Seriously, Apache + mod_php (and probably MySQL) is the easier way to start serving web pages, but it is also the easier way to start having problems when your server is under some load.
Some customers ask us stuff like how many web sites can I host in a 512MB RAM VPS?, as if there was a simple answer for that. But, actually… there is a simple answer: if you’re asking that question, probably none.
I’ve seen so many times people blaming Wordpress, Dokeos, Magento, etc, when the problem is Apache. Oh, I know… it isn’t Apache but the system administrator behind it, but there should be some amount of responsibility when correctly configuring Apache seems to be so complicated…
"PowerStack is a repository that allows you to run the latest LAMP versions in your Enterprise Linux. Currently both CentOS and RHEL are supported (i686 and x86_64)."
This is a brand new repository providing an up to date LAMP experience in your RHEL and CentOS based servers. Basically you can enjoy the long time support and API/ABI stability provided by Red Hat rock solid operative system, and at the same time have access to the cutting edge of the LAMP platform thanks to a trusted third party repository.
I must say that Remi is providing some of the LAMP stack components for some time (and I love Remi’s work, I’m enjoying some of his packages for Fedora 14, such as Firefox 4), but this PowerStack repository it’s specifically focused on enterprise server environment (they’re supposed to be very picky with the dependencies, which is good in a server!).
"Apache Subversion is a widely-used versioning control system. The project was initated at CollabNet in 2000 and was accepted into the Apache Incubator in 2009; many of the people who founded Subversion also actively contribute to various initiatives at the ASF."
I’m using GIT for a couple of personal projects, and I’ve used Bazaar in the past; but I still need Subversion from time to time. I mean, Apache Subversion.
"The ASF’s [Apache Software Foundation] first project became the world’s most popular Web server software within the first six months of its inception. The Apache HTTP Server today powers nearly 112 million Websites world-wide."
I’ve been using personally Apache (a patchy) server for almost 7 years, and recently I moved to another product, just to learn new things and because the Apache support of my outdated distro was over. The best part of this is it wasn’t Apache’s fault, and I know I can go back to use it anytime because it keeps rocking!
