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Mixing up the LAMP stack

Martin LaMonica Former Staff writer, CNET News
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer covering green tech and cutting-edge technologies. He joined CNET in 2002 to cover enterprise IT and Web development and was previously executive editor of IT publication InfoWorld.
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Martin LaMonica

Despite the catchy acronym, LAMP is not the only combination that can be put together as an alternative to Microsoft's .Net and Java.

Software programmers, business customers and venture investors are warming up to LAMP--which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and either PHP, Perl, or Python scripting languages--as an attractive set of tools for building and running business applications.

However, the LAMP "stack," or set of components, is not a hard-and-fast combination that meets all needs. The P in LAMP stands for either PHP, Perl or Python, and of course, there are many other scripting languages.

And as ZDNet columnist David Berlind points out, Java will be used more in combination with Linux, Apache and MySQL, particularly now that there are well established open-source Java application servers.

Other databases can very well be used as part of the mix. Time-sheet application company Journyx, for example, decided to use the PostgreSQL database instead of MySQL to develop its open-source application. (It has also ported the program to Unix, Windows and other databases.)

SpikeSource, which offers support services around pre-tested middleware stacks, intends to offer services around a package that includes Java. SourceLabs, another open-source support company, is expected to offer services and testing for a variety of stacks as well.

So while people — the media included-- like to pit one stack against the other as if there were individual companies behind them, the reality is a lot more mixed up.