[OSGeo-Discuss] Windows verse Linux

[Tim Bowden]

On Tue, 2007-06-19 at 14:56 -0400, Gary Watry wrote:

Gary,

> 
> Question: 
> What do I gain by going to Linux?
> What do I gain by staying in a Windows Environment?

In my experience (Test environment: Dual Xeon, scsi raid arrays, &
buckets of ram, Windows server 2003 & RHES4 linux) apache and mapserver
had similar performance in windows and linux under 'light' load, ie,
response times were close enough to call it practically identical.  That
picture changes when the load was ramped up.  Linux could carry twice
the load as the windows box before hitting peak performance.  I'm not
sure how the situation changes with low end hardware, but I can't see
windows putting up a better relative showing.  If anything, possibly the
converse.  I've never been motivated to test that as I have no intention
of running windows as a base platform unless there is no possible choice
in the matter, in which case comparisons are useless.

Another advantage of going with linux it the ability to build ad-hoc dev
environments without any licensing issues.  You will quite possibly want
commercial support for your prod environment, so cost wise it may be six
to half dozen on that front, but don't underestimate the time and cost
advantage of having a free hand (in more ways than one) when it comes
building dev/test environments.

The advantage of staying with windows is the familiar gui (as others
have pointed out) and the warm and fuzzy feeling of being cradled gently
and lovingly by microsoft.  If that helps you sleep better at night,
then so be it.

HTH,
Tim Bowden