Linux
Linux is a unix like operating system, initiated in 1991 by
Linus Torvalds, then a university student in Finland. He released the source code in 1991 and since then
thousands of programmers have contributed to its development.
Although initially designed for i386 processors, Linux has been adapted for embedded devices, Macs, Sparcs,
and mainframes. It is also used in Beowolf clusters, giving the power of supercomputers at a fraction of
the cost.
On PCs, Linux provides the operating system for a window manager and applications. Usually all this software
is GPL and called a Linux system.
ZDNet magazine did a 10 month study of server reliability, with a Windows NT server and 2 Linux servers.
They found the NT machine crashed about every 6 weeks, while neither Linux server ever went down.
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Apache
Apache is a web server. This is the software that responds
to your browsers request for a web page, and delivers up the page you want (or a 404 error message).
A recent survey found that about 62% of active web sites used Apache, while about 26% used Microsoft IIS. Also,
studies have found Apache is very reliable, while IIS is vulnerable to serious security breaches and to
frequent virus / worm infections.
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Sendmail
Sendmail is a mail server. A mail server's function is to
receive email messages and then to collect mail messages for people with accounts at this server, and to forward
all other mail on to the correct mail server.
A recent survey found about 42% of mail servers were Sendmail, compared with 18% using Microsoft Exchange.
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FreeBSD
FreeBSD is another unix like operating system.
FreeBSD is often used for internet server systems, where it has a reputation for high reliability and high load capacity.
It is not as good as Linux for single PC uses.
Netcraft determine the 50 most reliable internet servers. I've never seen a
Microsoft system appear in the top 50 list.
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Samba
Samba is a network system. It is used to make a LAN where computers communicate
and share printers, central files, internet access, etc. Samba works with PCs running Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Its features, reliability and the ability to connect different computer systems means it is considered one of the best
systems for running networks.
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Why give away perfectly good software?
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