Ubuntu Or Macos For Web Development

Jul 30, 2016 I've always wondered what is better for a workstation, a Mac or a High-end custom machine with Debian/Ubuntu/OS that mimics the production environment. This setup will be used only for work, and not for any other purposes. I believe MacOS is an all-rounder, but when its comes to pure development pleasure, I'm still confused.

Although Ubuntu 20.04 or its earlier Linux versions we don’t need to install XAMPP because using few commands, we can set up the LAMP environment on Ubuntu. Thus, for Windows, it is a greater piece of software. However, if you don’t want to go through various commands to set up a LAMP, the XAMPP is the best option.

What is XAMPP?

If you want to develop software for the web or create a website, you need a test environment that is not accessible from outside but includes all the necessary tools. XAMPP from Apachefriends offers such a development environment. It allows creating a Local web server with Apache, PHP, Perl, and MySQL.

In addition to Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl, other programs such as phpMyAdmin for the administration of MySQL, OpenSSL for encryption of network connections, FileZilla as an FTP server and the Mercury Mail Transport System is an email server with POP, SMTP and IMAP are included. In addition, the web analysis tool Webalizer is available, although the path in webalizer.php may have to be adapted in the event of problems.

Ubuntu Or Mac Os For Web Development Pdf

XAMPP is designed as a pure test system and aims to be ready for use quickly. Thus, not meant to serve as a web server for commercial because it does not offer adequate protection against possible hacker attacks there. Apart from Windows and macOS, it almost supports all Linux distributions such as Debian, RedHat, CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Gentoo, Arch, SUSE.

requirements

  • Graphical Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Linux
  • A non-root user with sudo rights.

Contents

  • Use Xampp on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS focal Fossa

Use Xampp on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS focal Fossa

You can follow the below steps not only for Ubuntu Focal Fossa but also for earlier versions such as Ubuntu 19.10/19.04/18.10/18.04/16.04… Linux Mint, Debian, Elementary OS…

Step 1: Download XAMPP for Ubuntu Linux

The first thing we need is the executable binaries of XAMPP on our Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For that, we simply visit the official website of this tool. Here is the link.

Scroll down to the section where the XAMPP Linux packages are available to download. You will see three versions there:

  • 7.2.30 with PHP 7.2.30 (64-bit)
  • 7.3.17 with PHP 7.3.17 (64-bit)
  • 7.4.5 with PHP 7.4.5 (64-bit)

Expect the PHP version, the rest of the tools in all the three versions will be the same. Thus, as per the requirement of the PHP version of your project download the one.

Here we are downloading the PHP 7.4.5 version, however, you can go for any of them. Click on the Download button.

Step 2: Open Command Terminal

Ubuntu

You can either use the shortcut- CTRL+ALT+T or simply go to Applications from Activities option and search for the Terminal and run it.

Step 3: Change permission and Run XAMPP installer

By default, whatever we are downloading from the internet using the browser on Linux systems, go into Downloads folder, thus first switch to that first.

Ubuntu Or Mac Os For Web Development Software

Change the permission of the installer. 755 means read and execute access for everyone and also write access for the owner of the file

Run the installer

Step 4: Setup Installer Wizard

The moment you run the installation command, a XAMP setup wizard will open. Click on the Next button.

Run Bitnami XAMPP

Select both the components “XAMPP Core files” and XAMPP Developer files and then NEXT.

By default, all the files will unpack under /opt/lampp.

Default installation folder

Click on the Finish and the XAMPP will be on your Ubuntu 20.04 LTS system.

XAMPP installed on Ubuntu Linux

Step 5: Start Apache and MySQL server

Go to Manage Server Tab and corresponding to Webster and Database click on the start button. To change their running ports select the Configure one.

Step 6: Stop or Start XAMPP server

In the future, if you want to stop the service of this tool, simply use the following command with sudo.

To stop all Xampp running services:

And if you want to start them again via command line:

Linux or Mac? It is one of those hot Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi debates, but it’s an important one as your work, and your overall computer experience depends much on what type of work you do and what OS do you use for that work.

First, let’s start by explaining a little bit about the Operating System (OS). OS is a piece of software that essentially runs your computer. It manages and controls your system hardware and provides some essential features.

What type of OS might be the best one for you depends on you, e.g., if you are an average user who uses the computer to kill time and play games, Windows is the best OS for you as it is optimized for gaming. But if your lively hood depends on your PC or you have some sensitive information on your PC, then Windows is the worst OS for you. Similarly, macOS is optimized for web designing, video editing, and music-making as the software for these tasks optimized for macOS. Linux is excellent for programming as many IDEs, and text editors were designed for Linux. Now before we start to discuss macOS and Ubuntu, let’s have a brief look at their histories.

History: Ubuntu

Ubuntu Or Mac Os For Web Development 10

Ubuntu might not be the best Linux distribution, but it is the most popular one. Ubuntu is the most popular operating system on Cloud. This wasn’t always the case; in fact, Ubuntu is a relatively young distro compared to other distros. Ubuntu is the descendant of the Debian Linux, which is one of the oldest and well-respected distributions.

The initial goal of Ubuntu was to make a user-friendly Linux distro that can be used by anyone. The first bug filed where Ubuntu stated, and I quote, “Microsoft Windows dominated the desktop Operating System market, and Ubuntu was there to change that.” Ubuntu’s earliest releases focused, making installation easy by introducing a graphical installer. The efforts put into Ubuntu to make it user-friendly were soon recognized as it soon started gaining popularity among the Linux community and, in addition to this, attracted new users as the installation was made easy.

History: macOS

The operating system that powers every Apple computer is called macOS. Its first version was released in 1984, which completely changed the computer industry, similar to how IOS on the first iPhone changed the smartphone industry. In 1984 Apple introduced Macintosh, which was the first commercial computer to feature a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a mouse; this made computers much easier to use and much more accessible to the general public. Apple then bought Nextstep and brought forward a UNIX based architecture. Later in 2001, Apple released Mac OS X. This mac OS X gradually evolved into mac OS we know today.

Comparison

Following is the comparison of the two OS mentioned above based on certain features and properties

User Interface:

Linux is highly customizable. If you are switching from Windows to Linux and are more familiar or comfortable with Window’s UI, you can customize your Linux UI to look like Windows. The same can be done if you are comfortable with macOS.

The new Ubuntu 19.10 has made significant improvements in this regard. However, when comparing the default UI of these two, it all boils down to personal preference. But the majority agrees that macOS has more organic and, in general, a better UI than Linux.

Hardware

Ubuntu is not hardware specific, meaning it can be installed on any computer. Now you can even install Linux on a mac book; this goes to show Ubuntu can work with almost any type of hardware. Now macOS, on the other hand, is very hardware-specific. It is only compatible with Apple hardware.

Performance

Ubuntu is very efficient and doesn’t hog much of your hardware resources. Linux gives you high stability and performance. Despite this fact, macOS does better in this department as it uses Apple hardware, which is specially optimized to run macOS.

Price

Price is an essential factor in choosing an OS. In the case of Ubuntu, there is no price. It is free to use as it is open source. On the other hand, there is no legal way to buy macOS. It comes preinstalled with MacBook. So to get macOS, you need to buy a Mac.

Privacy and Security

Privacy and security are some of the most important things if not the most important thing a person looks for when choosing an OS. As Ubuntu is open-source, it doesn’t track it’s user’s digital footprint. Privacy is the key feature of Ubuntu. macOS, on the other hand, does track the digital footprints of its users, and a lot of private information is sent back to the developers. This is the reason why Linux is very popular among most IT professionals.

In terms of security, both macOS and Linux are very safe compared to Windows, as most malware is not designed for them.

Customization

Ubuntu is highly customizable as it is open-source. If there is something you don’t like, you can change it. You can even change the amount of resources that your PC should use. You can customize the UI of your Linux to make it look like Windows or even macOS, which shows how much flexibility Linux provides. On the other hand, macOS comes with a fixed UI, and there aren’t many significant changes that you can make, much like Windows. You can’t look at the source code of macOS as it is not open source.

Above is the default Ubuntu 18.04 LTS UI

Above is a picture of customized Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

Conclusion:

So we conclude that there is no better OS. It all depends on the type of work you do. But having said that, the main differences are, Linux is free and open-source, and privacy is one of its key strengths. It also gives you a lot of flexibility to mold it according to your unique taste.

In contrast, macOS can only be obtained with a Mac. It is not open source and collects your private information. It isn’t customizable and gives you almost no flexibility, but at the same time, it is alo the most stable and efficient OS.