LAMP alternative to J2EE or .Net

InfoWorld writes:

The first three letters in LAMP stand for Linux, Apache, and MySQL, which comprise the OS, Web server, and database management system, respectively. Some developers dispute that Linux should be part of the equation; the same stack runs on Mac OS X, Unix, and even Windows. Linux, however, has the advantage of offering the same low cost and access to source code that the other components provide. The P in LAMP is a matter of preference; it stands for either Perl, PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor), or Python, although some would argue that other scripting languages, such as Ruby, deserve a place at the table as well.

Whereas J2EE and .Net development extend classic systems programming techniques and technologies to the Web, LAMP can be seen as a more direct descendent of the CGI programming model from the early days of Web development. The PHP scripting language, in particular, evolved with Web development squarely in mind, including numerous features designed to eliminate the drudgery of CGI programming. What’s more, the process overhead associated with traditional CGI has been all but eliminated in the modern LAMP platform. By loading either Perl, PHP, or Python as an Apache module, Web applications can execute quickly and efficiently.

Juxtapositioning

Marc Canter writes about what's happening:

- proprietary technology models <-> open source
- centralized communities <-> distributed communities
- templated, limited UIs <-> highly customizable UIs
- Hollywood, BigCo media <-> end-user content and media
- traditional marketing <-> guerilla marketing
- centralized marketplace <-> network of marketplaces

DON’T Ask the Users What They Want!

Tom Evslin has a couple of posts [1 2 ] on new product development. The gist: "No survey or focus group will ever tell you what the next great thing is going to be. That kind of idea, that kind of product, comes from visionaries who understand a new technology well enough to dream up an unintended use and who are stubborn and skillful enough to implement what nobody even knew to want...These are the products and services that change our lives."

Ten Laws Of The Modern World

Forbes has a list. Among them:

The Back Side of Moore's Law. This one says that digital stuff gets 30% to 40% cheaper every year--at the same performance point. The back side of Moore's Law is why your $299 Treo 650 is as powerful as a $3,500 Compaq PC was in 1988. It's why hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians now own their personal portals to the global economy.

Gilder's Law: Winner's Waste. The futurist George Gilder wrote about this a few years ago in a Forbes publication. The best business models, he said, waste the era's cheapest resources in order to conserve the era's most expensive resources. When steam became cheaper than horses, the smartest businesses used steam and spared horses. Today the cheapest resources are computer power and bandwidth. Both are getting cheaper by the year (at the pace of Moore's Law). Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) is a successful business because it wastes computer power--it has some 120,000 servers powering its search engine--while it conserves its dearest resource, people. Google has fewer than 3,500 employees, yet it generates $5 billion in (current run rate) sales.

The Living-Room Wars

WSJ writes:

Telephone giants, cable titans, computer companies and consumer-electronics makers are all vying to provide the next generation of high-tech entertainment -- a single network of gadgets that lets you view photos, listen to music, record DVDs and tune into whatever TV programs you want to watch, whenever you feel like watching them.

This convergence of computing, communications and entertainment has been promised before, only to evaporate because of consumer indifference and technology that wasn't ready for prime time. But now the pieces are finally coming together. And corporations are scrambling to make sure they aren't left behind.

All the major players have their advantages -- and weaknesses. Computer companies, led by Microsoft Corp. and equipment suppliers Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., say the processing power and adaptability of the PC gives them an edge in delivering innovative services to the living room. Consumer-electronics giants, like Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., maker of Panasonic products, tout the reliability of their extensive line of home-entertainment devices. The big Baby Bells, notably SBC Communications Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., are investing billions of dollars to deliver a nearly unlimited supply of broadcast and on-demand programming over their broadband optical-fiber networks.

At the moment, though, many experts believe that it's the cable companies, such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc.'s cable unit, that have the edge over rivals. Cable already delivers entertainment to millions of U.S. homes, and companies have spent the past few years upgrading their networks to deliver much more. Though cable operators typically have been slow to roll out more advanced technology, they are beginning to add more features to their set-top boxes that give customers new services without the hassle or cost of buying new equipment.

In some sense, there are really two separate match-ups: cable vs. telephone to deliver traditional and on-demand television programs, and PC vs. consumer electronics to provide the hardware in the home-entertainment system. But to an increasing extent, everybody wants a piece of everything.

TECH TALK: Good Books: Welch on Winning (Part 2)

Jack Covert recommended Jack Welch’s book “Winning” on 800-CEO-Read:

This book is not an autobiography, it is a primer for all people on all levels in business on how to succeed. As he states: "This book offers a road map. It is not, incidentally, a road map for senior level managers and CEO's. If this book helps them, terrific. I hope it does. But this book is also very much for people on the front lines: business owners, middle managers, people running factories, line workers, college graduates looking for their first jobs, MBAs considering new careers, and entrepreneurs."

The book is divided into five sections:

Underneath It All – this revolves around mission and values, candor, differentiation, voice and dignity.
Your Company - The first topic covered in this section is Leadership. The most valuable chapter in my opinion, it has leadership rules interspersed throughout the chapter. They alone make this chapter worthwhile. Other topics include hiring, people management, and change.
Your Competition - strategy, budgeting etc.
Your Career - the right job, getting promoted, etc.
Tying Up Loose Ends – speaks for itself.

As is very clear from the five sections, everything internal and external in the business environment is covered. In utmost detail, and with frankness. This gives the book that feeling of reading something true and real. Which is rare. To give you a feel of the style of the book and Jack’s style consider what he says in the Leadership chapter:

"…a word on paradoxes. Leadership is full of them.
The granddaddy of them all is the question I often get “How can I manage quarterly results and still do what’s right for my business five years out?
My answer is, “Welcome to the job!”
Look, anyone can manage for the short term—just keep squeezing the lemon. And anyone can manage for the long—just keep dreaming. You were made leader because someone believed you could squeeze and dream at the same time. They saw in you a person with enough insight, experience, and rigor to balance the conflicting demands of short- and long-term results.
Performing balancing acts every day is leadership."

A final word from Jack Welch: “I am often asked if leaders are born or made. The answer, of course, is both. Some characteristics, like IQ and energy, seem to come with the package. On the other hand, you learn some leadership skills, like self-confidence, at your mother's knee, and at school, in academics and sports. And you learn others at work—trying something, getting it wrong and learning from it, or getting it right and gaining the self-confidence to do it again, only better.”

Tomorrow: What Great Managers Do

Related Entries:  [All]
TECH TALK: Good Books: Beautiful Evidence and More Than You Know [November 3, 2006]
TECH TALK: Good Books: Winning Decisions [November 2, 2006]
TECH TALK: Good Books: The Go Point (Part 2) [November 1, 2006]
TECH TALK: Good Books: The Go Point [October 31, 2006]
TECH TALK: Good Books: In Spite of the Gods (Part 2) [October 30, 2006]