The acronym LAMP refers to a solution stack of software, usually free and open source software, used to run dynamic Web sites or servers.
- Linux, referring to the operating system;
- Apache, the Web server;
- MySQL, the database management system (or database server);
- PHP or others, i.e. Perl, Python, the programming languages.
While these programs were not specifically designed to work with one another, the open-source ethos and community-based development efforts made interoperability a strong focus and helped make this combination a popular and highly reliable choice. The fact that all are available to use for free didn’t hurt either.
In brief, here are the elements that make up LAMP.
Linux is, of course, the open-source operating system kernel originally created by Linus Torvalds and based loosely on Unix. Linux is regarded as a safe, reliable choice for many server applications.
Apache is the most widely used Web server. Apache has been an open-source effort from its beginnings around 1995 and is controlled by a group called The Apache Software Foundation. As of August 2006, according to a survey by Netcraft Ltd., Apache served 62% of all Web sites on the Internet and is clearly the world’s most popular Web server.
MySQL is a multithreaded, multiuser, SQL-based database management system with more than 6 million installations. Unlike the other components, MySQL is not open-source but has been copyrighted and owned by a single for-profit company since its 1995 inception. Uppsala, Sweden-based developer MySQL AB makes it available as free software under the GNU General Public License.
