Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Why MacOS X Server?

Author:Chuck Shotton
Posted:3/12/1999; 4:01:41 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 3/11/99
Msg #:4007 (In response to 3999)
Prev/Next:4006 / 4008

Of course, since the base infrastructure will be the same, Apple will probably have a hard time selling MacOS X Server to people who just want to run Apache; they can just download it and it will give the same performance on MacOS X as on Server.

Just download and run? Who ever said Apache would run on MacOS X? There is no infrastructure in place for running a Unix-specific app like this without some SERIOUS recoding. Just ask Tenon.

Apache runs on MacOS X Server because Server supports the full suite of POSIX, BSD, and other Unix-centric APIs. None of that is on MacOS X (well, the BSD stuff is, sort of, but Apple's record on Mac TCP/IP implementations tells me that it won't work right as a porting tool.) If you can run unmodified Apache source on your MacOS X installation the day it's released, I'll owe you a steak dinner.

It still amazes me that people drink the Apache Kool Aid with such zeal. It is still missing significant features found on other servers and frankly, it's performance isn't that spectacular when compared to other server software, regardless of what ZD Labs says.

I've got a Linux box, a PC running NT, and a Mac running 8.5.1, all running side by side, mirroring identical Web content. The NT box blows away the Linux box on raw file transfer speed and the Mac outperforms the Linux box on rapid, small file requests that result in cache hits. The place that Apache excels is its price. And that has to be what makes the Kool Aid so tasty.

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