The trouble with Ubuntu Server for beginners

At one point or another, any web publisher who is hosting web sites elsewhere will be tempted to bring a few of them closer to home, say, on a web server located downstairs, in a work-at-home office.

And when that happens, operating system-related choices need to be made.

Sure, there’s Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 or Apple’s MacOS X Leopard Server which come with their fair share of goodies but both are somewhat mediocre —and prohibitively expensive— compared to UNIX and Linux-based alternative, which are the crowned server room favorites.

So after dabbling around in either Windows or Mac server offerings for a while, initially weary of the “nix” alternatives, web publishers will likely cozy up to the idea of firing up such a box, namely to have access to the vast universe of options related to Apache, PHP and MySQL, running a rock solid, non-bloatware OS.

By the way, Apple came real close to building a winner with it’s MacOS X Leopard Server but it falls short on just about every count, the moment you try to go further than what Apple expected you to do with your server.

For instance, GD and ImageMagick aren’t available and installing them is the proverbial equivalent of landing men on the moon.

Furthermore, FTP management is a complete and utter drag since they have to be linked to “users” and only 10 seats come with the US$500 version. Yes, it’s lame. Ditto for email. And just trying to make domain name aliases redirect correctly is a complete waste of time. In other words, Leopard tried but it failed.

And that’s, in part, why UNIX or Linux alternatives seem so enticing. Most people end up in the Linux camp and the Ubuntu Server build feel like a natural winner. After all, Ubuntu desktop is quite impressive so the server edition should deliver the same kind of experience, right? Wrong! Ubuntu’s Server Edition, like many other Linux Server-oriented releases come without a GUI.

No graphic user interface makes the download shorter and the OS lighter but it condemns the web publisher, the one firing up Linux on a black PC box, in his basement office, to typing long, hardly understandable commands even geeks find tedious for jobs that could be much more easily handled… through a GUI.

This is going to drive 5% of the “nix” gurus crazy but 95% of the would-be “nixers” are completely stunned, at that point when the Ubuntu Server installation states that it has finished and all that’s offered to the user is a black screen and a prompt line. Users are going “What is that?” and they basically scrap the whole thing, install Windows and use WAMP or XAMPP, half-way solutions which lack raw power but come with an comprehensive interface where some productivity can actually occur.

And then, UNIX and Linux gurus continue to question themselves why the “nix” adoption rate is stalling, even as their archenemy, Microsoft’s Vista is the epitome for bloatware and costly licensing fees.

The problem, with UNIX and Linux servers has everything to do with no GUIs or very darn poor GUIs with very little comprehensive server controls, if any. Sure, a user could type “apt-get install kde” into the command line and install a GUI but it wouldn’t sport anything to control the server stuff so it’s basically pointless.

So the message to the “nix” crowd is: throw in a GUI —with server-specific controls— that the GUI-addicted web publishers will digg or risk losing countless would-be converts who hit a wall when they see how utterly unwelcoming these GUIless servers are, for them.

Let’s assume the message will be heard and something will be done about the regularly decried GUI issue, on OSs like Ubuntu Server Edition. The guys developing Ubuntu releases are some of brightest people around and perhaps that’s a problem (if such a thing is even possible) because they seem to underplay the fact that web publishers aren’t all guru-level “nixers” and that’s seriously holding back their adoption rate.

But there’s a ray of hope.

Yes, a bright light is shining on some Linux distributions, like CentOS, through the use of VirtualMin which is a free and paid mixed offering that delivers the kind of Linux-server handling which should come STANDARD with all distributions, such as Ubuntu’s Server Edition.

Users can also opt for Webmin but it’s not going to win any beauty contests soon, as far as its interface is concerned. The engine underlying the Webmin script, however, is as reliable as the Linux OS itself. A good interface designer would do that project a lot of good.

UNIX and Linux are wonderful operating systems and once they’re setup and somewhat manageable through a web interface like VirtualMin, they offer the utmost in power, stability and versatility… but one has to get to that point and it’s not easy, right now.

Once the “nixers” figure out a way to make their server-oriented OS release interesting for human beings, their success, for that important niche, will grow exponentially.

Tags: unix, linux, open source, free, server os, servers, operating systems, nix, nixers, linux gurus, linux experts, linux server, unix server, ubuntu server, centos, virtualmin, webmin, windows server, leopard server, mac server, macos x, manageability, stability, gui, graphic user interface, guis, user interfaces

Social networking in business

Networking isn’t new.

Social networking is the online equivalent of a offline meeting where, among other things, geography and schedules wouldn’t matter. Now, that’s a weird concept for some C-level dinosaurs but for the tech-savvy managers moving up, it makes perfect sense.

At the very foundation of networking, there are two things: humans and communications.

In a business setting, a basic goal would be for ideas to be clearly communicated, among all “humans”, in the organization. A more advanced goal would be for those ideas to mature and turn into “value”, one way or another.

Blogs and wikis haven’t replaced email messages and chatting but they’ve definitely added shared spaces where project data (and ideas) can more easily pollinate, more often than not, in ways that were largely unpredictable. Putting the information “out there”, for an entire team (or company) to see is a powerful way to leverage teamwork.

Social networking for businesses see communities of interest spring up around subject matters rather than organizational hierarchies. If you’ve been in business for a while, you’re well aware that the best ideas don’t necessarily come from the “top brass”. Networking at all levels of a company smashes the invisible glass walls which have the bad habit of strangling innovation, big time.

Generally speaking, social applications provide business value by letting people add context to information stores which, in turn, helps others identify what’s useful to them — it also makes search results that much more relevant.

Social bookmarks are a nice example of this since team members can share the web resources they like and learn from others about web destinations that have been overlooked. After a while, the bookmark list becomes a real time saver.

Naturally, enterprise social networking helps people find and connect with co-workers through user profiles, expert search and social graphs that map out any employee’s connections throughout the organization. This, in and of itself, makes for a strong argument for social networking, in the modern workplace.

Finding co-workers with domain-specific knowledge, in just a few clicks, can really propel any organization to a whole new level of communications, productivity, teamwork and of course, profitability.

Some organizations are obsessed with the “dangers of wasting time” wrongly associated with social networking. But that’s very bad management since social networking is a communications enabler and as such, it’s built to help channel information to the right people, wherever the people may be in the organizational chart.

If you’re just starting out in the social networking for business “adventure”, make sure to take a look at the quality open source scripts that are available to structure your data into blogs, forums, wikis or just about any other way you wish.

Tags: social networking, enterprise, business, work, workplace, colleagues, co-workers, employees, team members, managers, c-level, executives, decisions, ideas, communications, information, organization, open source, blogs, wikis

Why OpenX is still “king” of the proverbial online advertising mountain

If you’ve been busy building up your forum, blog, wiki or social networking service lately, you’ll probably get to the point where you need to generate some revenue to keep the ball rolling.

Managing online advertising can be a royal pain but if you happen to be running OpenX, you already know how much fun it is.

In fact, the word “fun” is a gross understatement.

Exhilirating might be more like it.

For starters, OpenX is made available for free as a rock solid open source release which, for version 2.6.3, weighs a cool 10.5 MB of PHP coding muscle which banks on MySQL‘s awesome data management power to take you —and your advertisers— on a wonderfully enjoyable and productive e-ride.

The fundamental setup in OpenX is built around the logic of having “Advertisers” on one side, feeding banners and clickable slogans and “Websites” at the other end, displaying them. This very logical approach makes this script a breeze to get your head around… and the rest just goes from there.

For every banner you program OpenX to handle, you’ll find a wide range of preferences you can toy with like, for instance, when that particular banner should display and when it shouldn’t — and for who. The whole nine yards, really. And the same can be said about the many ways said banner can be made visible in the web site since, on that end too, the choices should make integration especially easy.

Then come “the statistics” featuring a balanced dose of numbers that’ll help you understand what’s going on without burrying you under a pile of useless metrics. As an added bonus, such statistical clarity is bound to make your advertisers love your choice for such a straightforward advertising script. Advertisers demand answers regarding the way their ads have been delivered and OpenX will prove to be a dependable ally to achieve this, time and again.

Theoretically, the script accepts an unlimited number of… everything! Advertisers, banners, web sites, you name it. OpenX doesn’t appear to be “limited” in any significant way, unlike so many other online advertising scripts. I say theoretically because I’m not aware of anybody who’s taken the time to test the limits of this open source script. As a rule of thumb, if you run an OpenX ad server on a web server featuring unlimited hard disk space, sky is probably going to be the limit, for you.

Over and above all that’s already been said, the installation procedure takes just a few minutes and goes so smoothly, you barely notice that you’ve just installed the hottest open source online advertising solution, on Earth! It’s -that- smooth, people.

If you enjoy participating in vibrant open source communities, you’ll see that OpenX’s is precisely one of those. Their blog is a living testament to the vitality of their movement but also, their originality.

So if getting your very own “twin-turbo, V10 engine-inspired” ad server sounds like a plan, download the latest OpenX release, install it and see for yourself how RIGHT ON THE MONEY we are about this fine piece of open source code.

Tags: openx, ad server, php, mysql, open source, online advertising, ad script, advertisers, publishers, ad stats, statistics, banners, text links, clickable slogans, adsense boxes, fast ad serving, free, fast, fun, efficient

PrestaShop lets you open up your own web store

If you’re a merchant looking for a straightforward way to morph into an “e-merchant”, PrestaShop might make it on your shortlist.

For starters, it’s an open source (read: free) PHP and MySQL-based web script that, once installed, allows you to run your very own “electronic store”, with all the modern bells and whistles you’re used to seeing at the major e-tailers, including a comprehensive PayPal checkout.

The larger setups might swing towards the very impressive Magento Commerce web script, which is also open source and based on PHP and MySQL but for anything akin to a small to mid-sized store, PrestaShop feels like an awesome fit — even though it can technically handle a much larger store.

PrestaShop handle multiple languages, multiple currencies and multiple payment processing options brilliantly. It sports many “web 2.0″ features like a tag cloud, countless modules (extending the basic features) and a healthy dose of AJAX effects, namely when you add an item to your shopping basket.

From a customer’s standpoint, the web script looks very nice, is intuitive and performs flawlessly. All of which are essential for online sales to happen.

As an “e-store administrator”, you’ll be able to manage your catalog, customers, orders, payments and shipping to stay on top of what’s going on. The “admin interface” is easy to operate and the average semi-techie type will feel in control enough to enjoy working with this script (and that’s important if you’re going to use PrestaShop on a daily basis).

In a nutshell, here’s an overview of what PrestaShop offers, in its “front office”, which is basically the stuff your online customers will look for, see, use and appreciate:

• Special deals (price reductions, gift vouchers)
• Featured products on homepage
• Top sellers on homepage
• New items on homepage
• ‘Free shipping’ offers
• Cross-selling (Accessories)
• Product image zoom
• Order out-of-stock items
• Customer subscription & user accounts
• Unlimited payment methods
• Payment by bank wire
• Cash-On-Delivery (COD)
• Preconfigured for Paypal
• Multiple-recipient contact form
• Product tagging & tag cloud
• Search
• Merchandise return (RMAs) & credit slips
• Package tracking
• Offer gift-wrapping & recycled packaging
• PDF customer invoice
• Shopping Cart recall
• Sale of services & virtual goods
• Custom Favicon
• RSS feed
• Newsletter opt-in
• ‘Pick up in-store’ option

By all means, this is a highly credible (front-end) feature set which, coupled with your time, effort, creativity and marketing in setting up your online store can help you succeed in your e-tailing project.

Open source consulting firms might also adopt this script as it’s solid enough for serious deployments (now) but also set for a bright future with loads of upcoming features like 1-click purchases, affiliates management, per-item shipping cost and a loyal customer program.

It’s always reassuring to see an open source script being update regularly with such high-impact features that bring real value for both the e-merchant and the online customers.

Keep an eye on PrestaShop, this e-commerce web script is clearly going places.

Tags: prestashop, e-commerce, e-merchants, e-tailing, e-tailers, e-shops, online shops, e-shopping, web script, php, mysql, open source, paypal, bank wire, money, merchandise, package tracking, rmas, credit slips, free download, front office, online shoppers

Piwik as an open source alternative for serious web analytics

If open source is your thing and you publish web sites, Piwik might just be exactly what you were waiting for performing serious web analytics regarding your flow of online visitors.

Used intelligently, web analytics lets mere mortals extract decisive data which, in turn, helps shape the online experience the way visitors appear to want it to be.

To this day, the most vocal users of web analytics have been e-commerce operators but all flavors of web site operator are likely to learn useful things regarding their “analyticized” visitors, such as…

• how they found you;
• when they visited;
• what page they looked at;
• what they bought (or downloaded).

…as well as a wildly varied mix of all these things, within specific timeframes — for all useful purposes, it’s essentially limitless and smart managers can (more easily) stay on top of things if they have a superior understanding of what makes visitors “click” (call it 21st century “deep” data mining).

Even though Google Analytics does an amazing job at helping web publishers understand -and- improve their web sites (for free), open source enthusiasts have been waiting for an alternative like Piwik which can be used under the popular GPL License.

Piwik is the next logical step for phpMyVisites which is still being developed as more of a “general web statistics” engine, with less insistence on web analytics than Piwik which is still its infance, so to speak. Here are a few “static graphs” to give you a better feel for the script…

This PHP / MySQL script installs itself like a breeze and lets you concentrate on your task. Piwik may still be released under beta-labeled versions but it feels much more mature. The administrative interface is zippy and surprisingly customizable for whoever dares mingle with the templates.

It should also be said that if you use Piwik to monitor your web sites, you’ll own 100% of the data generated -and- you’ll be the only one, in the world, with access to it. For many privacy conscious web publishers, this is a major argument for switching to Piwik.

For the more adventurous coders (among us), it’s possible to develop your own plugins so your data will be handled exactly the way you want it to be. This highly modular plugin architecture clearly sets Piwik apart from the competition.

In the event you need to export data from your MySQL database, you’ll be thrilled with the open APIs that let you publish the data in many formats such as xml, json, php and csv.

If you blog a lot, the fact that you can easily embed your “live graph” stats will probably come in handy. The graphics look awesome and they have a definite 2.0 feel to them.

Again, it’s a free download and with a GPL License, you can’t go wrong!

Tags: piwik, phpmyvisites, analytics, web analytics, open source, open source analytics, gpl web analytics, free web analytics, php web analytics, mysql web analytics, data mining, e-commerce, e-intelligence, web 2.0, data formats, web publishing

Firefox 3 rocks the web

Upgrading your web browser should be a cause for celebration, this time around.

Firefox 3 comes with around 14,000 fixes, adjustments and upgrades but if you’re moving up from Firefox 2, you’ll enjoy a very smooth transition and here’s a quick overview of what’s in store for you with this amazing new upgrade.

• Password Manager - Remember site passwords without ever seeing a pop-up.
• One-Click Bookmarking - Bookmark, search and organize Web sites quickly and easily.
• Improved Performance - View Web pages faster, using less of your computer’s memory.
• Smart Location Bar - Find the sites you love in seconds — enter a term for instant matches that make sense.
• Instant Web Site ID - Avoid online scams, unsafe transactions and forgeries with simple site identity.
• Full Zoom - See any part of a Web page, up close and readable, in seconds.
• Platform-Native Look & Feel - Browse with a Firefox that’s integrated into your computer’s operating system.

Even if that’s already worthy of a primary digit upgrade, 3, in this case, there’s more.

Consider the very web 2.0-like ability to add tags to bookmarks, just like in blogs and wikis. This means that above and beyond the usual bookmark categories you create and manage, the tags can add a significant level of precision regarding the content available in your bookmarked pages.

Oh! And you can bookmark links with one click by clicking on the little blue star nested in the smart location bar that’ll make you navigation easier than ever by suggesting web sites you may want to visit, as you type the name in the location field, live.

Furthermore, Firefox 3 protects you from viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. Not bad for a browser — Microsoft should take notes! Attack sites will have a much harder time defrauding ususpecting web users now that Firefox 3 integrates these anti-malware features. In other words, in your clueless aunt Mimi still finds herself being the victim of fraudsters, go to her place and install Firefox 3 on her machine so her misery will stop, once and for all.

There would be many more features to review and talk about but the real story with Firefox 3 is how much more advanced it is, compared to the current market leader, Internet Explorer 6. Even if Microsoft acts tough and maintain that their browser is still number one, the online crowd can move quickly and the place they would like go is deep into Mozilla territory, thanks to Firefox 3.

To this day, 19,882,507 web users have downloaded Firefox 3 and that number is going up, all the time.

Tags: firefox 3, mozilla, web browser, web page navigation, ie6, microsoft, open source, free software, anti-malware, best browser

Revolution themes make WordPress look great

It’s no secret that almost anybody can launch a WordPress blog since, among other things, the PHP / MySQL script is downloadable for free as “open source” and hundreds of plugins complement the main code to help tailor highly customized blogging systems.

So WordPress rocks and millions of web publishers, from around the world, will gladly confirm it.

But is WordPress capable of handling truly professional blogs?

From a technical standpoint, it’s very solid and will surely provide you with a flawless blogging experience. This being said, most of your web publishing work will include creating -or- finding and fine-tuning a blog theme that fits your particular blog project.

The theme part, with the inevitable computer graphics work, can get a tad frustrating for the bloggers who just can’t stay on top of things, designwise. Add CSS stylesheets to the mix and some less familiar bloggers might literally run for the hills!

Imagine these bloggers’ satisfaction when they come across Brian Gardner Media’s Revolution themes, for WordPress.

These WordPress themes are more sophisticated than the average “free themes” that are abundatly available. They’re designed with the idea that WordPress isn’t just a blogging script but rather a full blown content management system — hence the name “Revolution”.

Hierarchical drop-down menus are standard and the blog’s front page model looks like a magazine instead of “just another blog”. For many bloggers, this is a way out of the cookie-cutter-like approach simpler themes may apply thereby failing to woo the blog reader.

Good looks can make the difference between an average blog going unnoticed and an online magazine-like web destination that first time visitors want to bookmark.

Is each Revolution theme expensive, at $79,95 for a single use or $199,95 for an unlimited use?

Of course not since custom design for a blog quickly runs into the thousands of dollars. With minimal customization work in any of the Revolution themes, a web publisher can proudly present a visually appealing blog that readers will rave about.

Furthermore, web designers can buy a $399,95 package to use all of the Revolution themes in all of their clients’ blogging projects.

Serious bloggers will always be looking for ways to differentiate themselves and right now, buying a Revolution theme is sure way to do just that.

Tags: revolution themes, brian gardner media, wordpress, theme, commercial theme, pro theme

Microsoft’s sudden affection for openness

Techies know full well that the software market is becoming an ecosystem of sorts in which products not built to standards and lacking interoperability will wither… and disappear.

Up to now, Microsoft has been the perfect example of closed source software stuffed with heavily patented processes, even when such processes were so common and blatantly obvious that they shouldn’t have gotten any patent protection to start with.

So in face of the powerful grassroots tsunami in favor of open standards, open source and creative commons-type of property statements, Microsoft has recently decided to take a concrete action towards openness by publishing 30,000 pages documenting Windows protocols that previously were only available under restrictive licenses.

Furthermore, Microsoft said it won’t sue open source developers for noncommercial implementations of those protocols but frankly, it remains to be seen if an open source coder will take the chance to inject Microsoft-based code in their work.

Ongoing European antitrust scrutiny over Microsoft’s push to get its Open XML document format ratified as an international standard might have everything to do with the company’s CEO, Steve Balmer, suddenly vowing for openness.

Microsoft’s move is a step in the right direction because even though some third parties might take from them, codewise, they might also add value to the current codebase.

Since loosely coupled systems will become a basic requirement for business success in the coming years, Microsoft’s decision to play more nicely with all other coders out there appears that much more important for the company’s future.

Tags: microsoft, openness, open source, developers, windows, protocols, open xml

SugarCRM helps your customers

If you’re looking to make your customers happy by always calling them at the right moment, by planning ahead of their needs and by accompanying them in their projects, then using the SugarCRM Suite should make perfect sense to you.

Either hosted by Sugar or downloadable as an Open Source PHP / MySQL script, many experts consider that this Cupertino-based company is offering the next generation of CRM, today. For anybody managing customers, that’s enough to write home about.

In a nutshell, SugarCRM is rethinking how technology can help companies manage customer relationships.

More specifically, Sugar delivers a feature-rich set of business processes that enhance marketing effectiveness, drive sales performance, improve customer satisfaction and provide executive insight into business performance. This already sounds good but two new much anticipated modules are available and they’re bound to further help manage your customers.

First, the Knowledgebase helps customer support and engineering teams better manage and share structured and unstructured information. Knowledgebase allows users to create frequently asked questions (FAQs), manage files and search (and rate) content – all in one easy-to-use interface.

Secondly, the Customer Self-Service Portal allows companies to provide self-service capabilities to customers and prospects for key marketing, sales and support activities. Customers can log cases, upload relevant information and track cases to resolution without ever having to pick up a phone.

The SugarCRM Suite delights customers of all sizes across a broad range of industries. If you’re already one of them, now would be a good time to take a good look at how these new offerings can integrate with your business objectives, customerwise.

Tags: sugarcrm, crm, customer relationships, customer management, knowledgebase, self-service portal

Open source options for VoIP

The quickly evolving telecom world is turning out to be one the best sources of sustained growth for open source offerings.

In regards to conventional voice technology, open source software never posed a strong challenge, mainly because the “plain old telephone system” is locked into proprietary PBX bundles of hardward and software.

Lately, the VoIP option has been gaining serious ground, both with businesses and consumers. This huge shift towards IP-based networks lets open source developers apply their “open approach” to the world of communications.

Anyone with a little interest in the field of VoIP (at the office or… at home) can try out the finest solutions, that are currently made available, by installing and deploying the following open source initiatives:

• Asterisk – Its open source code was originally written by Mark Spencer so you may think of Asterisk as the Linux of VoIP.
• Digium – A company led by Mark Spencer (yep, the guy behind Asterik) that makes VoIP software.
• Pingtel – Asterisk’s rival open source platform for VoIP called SIPFoundry that closely adheres to SIP standards (they landed Amazon.com, as a customer).
• Fonality – Holds the key to older PBX systems by making Asterisk IP PBX-enabled, therefore taking aim at larger companies and entrenched vendors.

Many experts compare the rise of open source voice over internet protocol options in the business world to the widepsread adoption of Apache, for web servers. In both cases, uptime is critical and the Linux foundation has proved it’s “king of the hill” on that front.

Expect the adoption of these (and other) open source VoIP options to accelerate as more people learn about them.

Tags: open source, voip, linux, business world, apache, web servers, voice over internet protocol