Operating Systems

Operating Systems
OS Used Comfort Notes
Ubuntu Linux 2009-now Three stars My new employer uses the Ubuntu distribution of Linux; while it’s similar to other Linux distros, there’s enough of a difference that I need to spend some time brushing up on it.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2004-2009 Five stars This is the version of Linux that I have been using for production web applications at my current job. I started with ES 3, have upgraded all production servers to ES 4, and am currently investigating ES 5. While not a part of my standard job description, I am very comfortable performing system administration tasks on RHEL.
Fedora (Core) 2004-now Five stars I use Fedora as a fallback server OS when a new server is needed in a pinch. I am currently using Fedora for some development and testing servers, as well as a desktop OS. I’ve been using Fedora since release 2.
Red Hat Linux 2002-2004 Four stars This is the pre-enterprise version of the operating system; I was using versions 8 and 9 for personal use and learning system administration tasks.
Windows NT/XP/Vista/7 1995-now Five stars I became interested in Windows development after the release of NT 4, which I felt was a very stable and usable system. NT and XP is gone (for the most part), and I’m now using Vista and Windows 7 for Windows-based development tasks.
Windows 3.1/95 1992-1996 Three stars I began using Windows 3.1 in 1992 as a part of competitive analysis with Microsoft’s fledgling development system (what would become Visual C++). I found development on both 3.1 and 95 as ‘clunky’, and did not enjoy using them. I stopped using these consumer versions of Windows after the release of NT 4.
Macintosh OS (legacy) 1985-1999 Three stars I was an early adopter of the Macintosh; I’m not sure where I started, but the first big OS install I remember was 3.2. I used the Mac OS up to version 7. These are the legacy versions of the OS; I have never used the newer, Mach kernel based versions.
Servers
Server Used Comfort Notes
Apache httpd server 1998-now Five stars I, along with 166 million others, have always found the Apache web server to be the most stable server, as well as being the easiest to install and maintain. I have had responsibility for installing, maintaining, securing, and upgrading httpd servers since 2004. I have not written extensions; I’m able to find existing extensions for everything I’ve wanted to do.
Apache Tomcat 2005-now Five stars I started using Tomcat to kick off the development of my current companies’ web application, just as a placeholder to get things rolling. I haven’t found a better replacement yet. Like httpd, I’ve had responsibility for the full lifecycle of the server, including using the mod_jk connector to have httpd serve Tomcat pages.
JBoss 2004-now Three stars I’ve supported a JBoss server that hosts an application server written with a proprietary Java-based framework. I am not as comfortable with JBoss as I am with Tomcat.
VMWare 2005-now Four stars I have used VMWare to set up multiple web servers for our clients, all on a single physical server. This reduces our costs, and by extension, reduces the cost to our clients. This is only one of two software packages that has really impressed me over the last few years (the other being Business Objects).
Sendmail (POP mail server) 2004-now Four stars I’ve set up and maintained mail servers using sendmail that are used as a way for the web server to send notifications to users, such as password updates/confirmations, registration confirmations, and file upload notices.
DNS 2003-now Four stars I have some experience in modifying DNS settings to allow multiple web servers to be run on a single physical server. This was done by creating CNAME records that point to the same FQDN, and having the Apache config set up with name-based virtual servers that route based upon the request’s FQDN.

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