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 | | From: | Curious Pete | | Subject: | Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web Application | | Date: | 18 Jan 2005 18:17:54 -0800 |
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 | Hi there. I am hoping that someone here can offer me some database
advice.
I work at a small company that makes frozen products that are sold in
supermarkets. We recently hired sales reps in several cities in the US
and Canada to maintain our displays in stores and to take orders from
those stores. Each rep visits 12 stores a day and take a digital photo
of our display at each store. Then they go home, write up an email to
us about the situation at each store, attach the digital photos to the
emails, and send it to us. Then they write emails to the local
distributors containing their orders for the day and send them,
cc'ing us.
The system is working well, except as we add more and more sales reps,
the flow of information into the Head Office is becoming a raging
torrent, and frankly we can't keep up with it. So, we came up with
the great idea to automate the entire process via a database-driven web
application. The idea is that the sales reps should be able to log into
a site, enter a user name and password, then enter and upload their
report, photos and orders for the day, which would thereafter be stored
in a database that we could access from the Head Office.
There is a lot of data to input: Store Name, Street Address, City, Zip,
Store Contact etc. etc., plus all our various distributors and
individual products. We figure that the system should be robust enough
to handle at least fifty sales reps covering a total of 3,750 stores.
We sent RFPs to several software companies and received several bids
back. Okay, here comes the question part: Roughly half the bidders want
to use Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP while the other half wants to use
Microsoft/IIS/MS SQLServer/.NET. (We are currently running a Microsoft
server in the office, but if it was cheap enough, I suppose we could
add another server running LINUX.)
My question is: Which solution is "better", and, from my (user's)
point of view, do I even care? (The software-building costs are about
the same for both types of system.)
I am looking for a robust system that will last our company for several
years, that can be added to as we think of more bells and whistles, and
that will need minimum maintenance.
Thank you in advance!
Curious Pete
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| | From: | CBFalconer | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 03:45:15 GMT |
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| Curious Pete wrote:
>
> Hi there. I am hoping that someone here can offer me some database
> advice.
>
> I work at a small company that makes frozen products that are sold in
> supermarkets. We recently hired sales reps in several cities in the US
> and Canada to maintain our displays in stores and to take orders from
> those stores. Each rep visits 12 stores a day and take a digital photo
> of our display at each store. Then they go home, write up an email to
> us about the situation at each store, attach the digital photos to the
> emails, and send it to us. Then they write emails to the local
> distributors containing their orders for the day and send them,
> cc'ing us.
>
> The system is working well, except as we add more and more sales reps,
> the flow of information into the Head Office is becoming a raging
> torrent, and frankly we can't keep up with it. So, we came up with
> the great idea to automate the entire process via a database-driven web
> application. The idea is that the sales reps should be able to log into
> a site, enter a user name and password, then enter and upload their
> report, photos and orders for the day, which would thereafter be stored
> in a database that we could access from the Head Office.
>
> There is a lot of data to input: Store Name, Street Address, City, Zip,
> Store Contact etc. etc., plus all our various distributors and
> individual products. We figure that the system should be robust enough
> to handle at least fifty sales reps covering a total of 3,750 stores.
>
> We sent RFPs to several software companies and received several bids
> back. Okay, here comes the question part: Roughly half the bidders want
> to use Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP while the other half wants to use
> Microsoft/IIS/MS SQLServer/.NET. (We are currently running a Microsoft
> server in the office, but if it was cheap enough, I suppose we could
> add another server running LINUX.)
>
> My question is: Which solution is "better", and, from my (user's)
> point of view, do I even care? (The software-building costs are about
> the same for both types of system.)
>
> I am looking for a robust system that will last our company for several
> years, that can be added to as we think of more bells and whistles, and
> that will need minimum maintenance.
No question - the Linux based one. Since you are having this built
for you, you should ensure you have source and the ability to
compile etc. (regardless of what OS it runs on). However the Linux
based system will still be viable some years from now, while the MS
system is unlikely to continue. The MS systems are designed to
force you into buying and licencing new software at regular
intervals. MS systems are security nightmares.
You might consider that even having a server for this is
redundant. e-mail can also serve as input to the database, the
principal disadvantage being that there is no immediate error
feedback. This could be handled by creating a portable e-mail
generator, that would provide feedback to your agents and run on
their machines. The advantage to you is that the processing can
now be batched and run at convenient times. Similarly the agents
can operate at times convenient for them.
I am a believer in changing one thing at a time.
--
Chuck F (cbfalconer@yahoo.com) (cbfalconer@worldnet.att.net)
Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems.
USE worldnet address!
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| | From: | infobahn | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 05:10:25 +0000 (UTC) |
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| CBFalconer wrote:
>
[...some excellent advice, snipped for brevity.]
>
> I am a believer in changing one thing at a time.
What's next on your list of things to change? Your belief in changing
one thing at a time? :-)
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| | From: | Randy Howard | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web Application | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 08:29:26 GMT |
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| In article <41EDEB8C.CEC2B5DF@btinternet.com>, infobahn@btinternet.com says...
> CBFalconer wrote:
> >
> [...some excellent advice, snipped for brevity.]
> >
> > I am a believer in changing one thing at a time.
>
> What's next on your list of things to change? Your belief in changing
> one thing at a time? :-)
>
Wow, that was like a joke...
.... but without the funny part.
--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
"For some reason most people seem to be born without the part
of the brain that understands pointers." -- Joel Spolsky
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| | From: | infobahn | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 11:01:40 +0000 (UTC) |
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| Randy Howard wrote:
>
> In article <41EDEB8C.CEC2B5DF@btinternet.com>, infobahn@btinternet.com says...
> > CBFalconer wrote:
> > >
> > [...some excellent advice, snipped for brevity.]
> > >
> > > I am a believer in changing one thing at a time.
> >
> > What's next on your list of things to change? Your belief in changing
> > one thing at a time? :-)
> >
>
> Wow, that was like a joke...
Thank you. It's good to be appreciated.
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| | From: | Randy Howard | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web Application | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 17:33:39 GMT |
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| In article <41EE3DDD.2527D2E2@btinternet.com>, infobahn@btinternet.com says...
> Randy Howard wrote:
> >
> > In article <41EDEB8C.CEC2B5DF@btinternet.com>, infobahn@btinternet.com says...
> > > CBFalconer wrote:
> > > >
> > > [...some excellent advice, snipped for brevity.]
> > > >
> > > > I am a believer in changing one thing at a time.
> > >
> > > What's next on your list of things to change? Your belief in changing
> > > one thing at a time? :-)
> > >
> >
> > Wow, that was like a joke...
>
> Thank you. It's good to be appreciated.
Actually, I think you snipped the more important part of my post.
--
Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR)
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| | From: | infobahn | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web | | Date: | Sun, 23 Jan 2005 05:50:32 +0000 (UTC) |
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| Randy Howard wrote:
> In article <41EE3DDD.2527D2E2@btinternet.com>, infobahn@btinternet.com says...
>
>>Randy Howard wrote:
>>
>>>Wow, that was like a joke...
>>
>>Thank you. It's good to be appreciated.
>
> Actually, I think you snipped the more important part of my post.
Indeed you do. And yet the part I snipped contributed nothing to
anyone's knowledge, experience, happiness, or well-being, so I
didn't think anyone would miss it.
Clearly, I was wrong about that. /You/ miss it, you think it is
"more important", and I infer that you would like to see your
immortal words restored to the rest of this sub-thread for
posterity. Well, I think we can manage that.
"... but without the funny part." - Randy Howard.
In case you lose it, here are a few more.
#include
int main()
{
for(int i = 0; i < 42; i++)
std::cout << "\"... but without the funny" <<
" part.\" - Randy Howard." <<
std::endl;
return 0;
}
Lest any nuance or subtlety be lost, let's not leave it like that.
^
"...mais sans partie drole." - Howard Excite'.
"...aber ohne das lustige Teil." - Reizvolles Howard.
"...ale bez zabawny cze,s'c'." - Napalony Howard.
....with apologies for the ASCII art punctuation, especially
that circumflex. The comma is rather less obvious as ASCII
art, and thus more interesting, but of course a discussion
thereof would be stretching topicality still further.
(Or would it?)
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| | From: | Gerry Quinn | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web Application | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 12:47:36 -0000 |
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| In article <1106101074.692856.84830@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
virtualcowboy2004-curiouspete@yahoo.com says...
> We sent RFPs to several software companies and received several bids
> back. Okay, here comes the question part: Roughly half the bidders want
> to use Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP while the other half wants to use
> Microsoft/IIS/MS SQLServer/.NET. (We are currently running a Microsoft
> server in the office, but if it was cheap enough, I suppose we could
> add another server running LINUX.)
>
> My question is: Which solution is "better", and, from my (user's)
> point of view, do I even care? (The software-building costs are about
> the same for both types of system.)
Obviously they are equally popular amongst developers. It would be
reasonable to conclude that they are much the same.
- Gerry Quinn
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| | From: | Larry Brasfield | | Subject: | Re: Need Advice on Linux vs. Windows for a Database-Driven Web Application | | Date: | Wed, 19 Jan 2005 11:42:01 -0800 |
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| "Curious Pete" wrote in message
news:1106101074.692856.84830@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Hi there. I am hoping that someone here can offer me some database
> advice.
Hi. I'm surprised this has not turned into a heated discussion.
I suppose that is a good sign for software consumers.
[Typical DBMS application requirement omitted.]
> We sent RFPs to several software companies and received several bids
> back. Okay, here comes the question part: Roughly half the bidders want
> to use Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP while the other half wants to use
> Microsoft/IIS/MS SQLServer/.NET. (We are currently running a Microsoft
> server in the office, but if it was cheap enough, I suppose we could
> add another server running LINUX.)
>
> My question is: Which solution is "better", and, from my (user's)
> point of view, do I even care? (The software-building costs are about
> the same for both types of system.)
Those bids are reflecting today's reality that both platforms
are suitable for the application you describe. Either one will
do the job you describe, and should do so in a way that the
users would be hard put to detect the difference.
The development and system maintenance cost are going to
swamp the platform cost, so acquisition of a new server or
paying an OS license fee or paying for a quality Linux distro
with support should not drive your decision, or even affect
it significantly.
> I am looking for a robust system that will last our company for several
> years, that can be added to as we think of more bells and whistles, and
> that will need minimum maintenance.
I suggest that you research cost of ownership. Minimum
maintenance does not typically lead to minimum cost,
especially when data loss and security issues are taken
into account. You will want somebody on staff, or who
can be retained, that will maintain your server(s). The
selection of people familiar with both platforms will be
smaller than the selection of people who have narrowed
their focus to one. This could sway you toward staying
with the platform you have. I would argue going to Linux
on the basis that having both platforrms in place will keep
your (or your IT manager's) eyes more open to the options
that exist for other expansions of your IT function.
Bottom line: What is best will depend on non-technical
factors local to your situation. Technically, either platform
will will work for the application you describe.
> Thank you in advance!
You're welcome in retrospect.
--
--Larry Brasfield
email: donotspam_larry_brasfield@hotmail.com
Above views may belong only to me.
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