Hosting Linux-Windows?

Dolemite50

Hi, Im just getting started on PHP and I have WAMP installed as a test server at home. I am running XP. My question is that it seems 90% of the hosting servers run Linux. In other words everything that I code at home I will eventually have to reconfigure to get to work on a Linux server? Is there any way around this? I assume that 90% of you people are running Windows at home. Is this a problem? I am considering finding a Windows based host so that I dont have to recode.

Any feedbak on this?

Thanks again.

Mordecai

My development machine is Windows, but my server is FreeBSD. I don't make any changed between my code.

Dolemite50

Do you use the mail() function?

move3rd

I do on both windows and linux.

LordShryku

Everything should work the same as long as you code accordingly. Always assume register_globals is off, always do proper variable and settings checks, etc, etc...

dalecosp

Originally posted by LordShryku
Everything should work the same as long as you code accordingly. Always assume register_globals is off, always do proper variable and settings checks, etc, etc...

and don't rely on shell_exec(), backticks, system(), and so on....

Watch absolute filesystem paths ... the good news: NT based Windows can grok a forward slash in a path; the bad news: 'Nix boxen don't generally call a partition "c:" 😃

One of PHP's many strong points is its portability; both PHP and Java are interpreted languages rather than compiled ones, so they will typically run on any box that's set up for it....

_LINUXyoda_

linux V Windows webserver...... the age old question...

Linux, VERY fast, efficiant ect ect.... the down side is it can be a pain in the ass at times to set it up the way you want it...

Windows, simple installation, the down side is it's unsecure, unstable, slow (at times) and requires faster and better hardware.... oh and uses more internet bandwidth for MScrap that doesn't need to be sent.

It's a preference thats down to the individual.....

dalecosp

Originally posted by ^LINUXyoda
linux V Windows webserver...... the age old question...

Linux, VERY fast, efficiant ect ect.... the down side is it can be a pain in the ass at times to set it up the way you want it...

Windows, simple installation, the down side is it's unsecure, unstable, slow (at times) and requires faster and better hardware.... oh and uses more internet bandwidth for MScrap that doesn't need to be sent.

It's a preference thats down to the individual.....

Which is why I prefer FreeBSD 😉

MarkR

There are very few things which should need changing. Things to watch out for are:

Case sensitive filenames. This is BY FAR the biggest "gotcha" on Windows to Linux PHP apps.
Different filesystem semantics, particularly file locking. Doesn't normally affect Windows -> Linux because Linux is more relaxed (i.e. by default it does not use mandatory file locking)
Obviously anything creating an external process
Forward slashes in filenames (should work on Windows anyway)

The filename case sensitivity is the biggest problem. Ideally there is some Web server plugin you can add on win32 which will make the web server case sensitive (allowing you to better test your apps).

Mark

Dolemite50

Thanks for all the input.

- Forward slashes in filenames (should work on Windows anyway)

Does this mean that I should just use forward slashes on all paths to files as a catch-all?

_LINUXyoda_

Originally posted by dalecosp
Which is why I prefer FreeBSD 😉

I'll proberbly get 1,000 people shouting at me for this, but.....

FREEBSD ~ LINUX

and for those of you that can't work that out.....

FREEBSD is more or less LINUX

LordShryku

That's a rather bold statement....
FreeBSD is very Unix-like and shares a lot of traits with Linux, but FreeBSD is very much different than Linux, especially when compared to the hand holding flavors like Mandrake and Fedora...

dalecosp

Ferrari ~ Porsche,
Russia~Kazahkstan,
Bush~Kerry~Nader,
Man~Woman.

Seem a tad fishy? :rolleyes:

FreeBSD != Linux, and never has been. FreeBSD and Linux are both "unix-like", and this leads to some confusion on the issue. Their history is different, their design has differences, their philosophy is different, their organization (or lack thereof) is different. Their legal standing, last we heard, is somewhat different. And plenty more....

A great quote, suitable for holy wars when you don't read the linked article from which it came [below]:

It's been my impression that the BSD communit{y,ies}, in general, understand Linux far better than the Linux communit{y,ies} understand BSD. I have a few theories on why that is, but that's not really relevant. I think a lot of Linux people get turned off BSD because they don't really understand how and why it's put together. Thus, this rant; as a BSD person, I want to try to explain how BSD works in a way that Linux people can absorb.

While there's overwhelming similarity between the operating systems in most cases, there are also a lot of differences. As you probe more into the differences, you find that they emerge from deep-seated disagreements. Some are disagreements over development methodology, some over deployment and usage, some about what's important, some about who's important, and some about which flavor of ice cream is superior

Matt Fuller. You may wanna go on over to his site and read BSD for Linux users before you submit more information~untruths to the Web Wide World in general ...

And yeah, the piece is a rant, but it's a good one; lots of facts there, as well as opinion. "FREEBSD ~ LINUX" looks like a fact, but it isn't... 😉