Sunday, February 3, 2013

How do you develop a website with a zip code / City, State lookup?

Q. How do you develop a website with a zip code look up for various stores, and locations? A website similar to Yelp.com?

Also, how much does a website like that cost to make approximately?

Thanks.

A. Use the LAMP stack

Linux as an OS - Cost - free
Apache for a web server - cost - free
MySQL for a database - cost - Free
Use a scripting language like Python, Perl, or PHP to handle the interface between the web page and the HTML pages on the web site - cost - free

Create the web site
Link the clicks and dialog windows to the scripts
set up the database
load your data
Test
Debug
Test
Debug
Test
Debug
......
Some time much later
......
Go Live

Have fun

What exactly is so great about linux?
Q. I have tried Ubuntu out once but I didn't really see the point of it and I ended up going back to windows 7. What does linux have to offer that windows does not (apart from the fact that its free)? I'd really love to learn more about linux and play around with it (especially customizing it and tweaking settings to personal preference but I don't know if that's what it's about).
Oh and can someone also please recommend a (or perhaps a few) versions I should try out?

A. I'm so glad you ask this question!
Well, linux is great from many points of view. I hope you take your time reading this, and I hope this will prove helpful to you! :D

1. The main one, which is definitely the best thing for an every-day user is the fact that Linux is virus-free. No antivirus, no problems at all with malwares or malicious software.

2. Open source. Open source doesn't mean ONLY that it's free. Aside of the fact that you have FREE licensed OS, there is a huge open source community, constantly working on your linux version (we call them distributions), fixing bugs, or dangerous leaks and making it better, and better every day. With linux, you will always benefit from the latest updates, which is great.

3. Great security. Having no viruses, being open source (constantly updated), with Linux you can be sure you're system is as secure as it can be. As for myself, I feel secure ONLY on Linux.

4. Optimal. Linux is, no doubt, optimal! It is very fast, even on slower computers. As an example, at the Informatics Olympiads in my country, they test the sources both on Windows and Linux, and Linux is faster all the times, sometimes even twice. Linux is faster because of it's relative simplicity, because of it doesn't have all those additional programs which Windows needs for pretty much everything to slow down your computer.

5. Support for all standard formats. With Linux, you are off to go from the moment you install it. It supports pretty much EVERY standard format there is. In windows, to emulate an .iso you need a program (in Linux you don't; of course you can install, if you want a nice user interface), In windows to unzip a .zip you need a program (in Linux, you don't) etc. etc.

6. Great control over your OS. In Linux you got the Terminal, which allows you to do EVERYTHING you want (including to screw up your computer, believe me :)) ). Basically, in Linux you control the system. In Windows it's different, Windows is a closed box, you can only see it's outside. You are forced to use what they give you, how they give it to you. In Linux you can use what you want, how you want. And that's nice.

7. Just like the OS, you benefit from a lot of open source software, which (some of them) are great! Like GIMP instead of Photoshop, Blender instead of... well instead of nothing because Blender is the best out there for 3D Modelling (IMO)..., Inkscape for vector graphics etc.

8. WINE. If you still need a certain program from Windows which doesn't have a version for Linux, there is WINE. WINE is basically a thing which lets you install and run Windows programs as your Linux would be Windows. You can very well install MSOffice, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, anything you want. Even games! Yes, you can play windows games on linux with WINE. For some of them, you may get even better performance than on Windows itself. With a little bit of learning it's ropes WINE will make you forget about windows.

9. Customization! That's another great thing of Linux. On Linux you can customize, tweak, modify anything at your pleasure, given that you know how to do it. Of course, some of the things you can customize easily, some of them harder, but there's always that feel of happiness when you make your system look like you want to. And when you know you did it!

At first, I would suggest you to use a dual boot: Windows 7 and Linux, so that you can switch to Windows whenever you need, until you get familiarized with linux. For this, it is necessary to install Windows first, and then Linux with it's bootloader so that it recognizes both Windows and Linux at boot.

Finally, as you requested, here are some versions (distributions, like I said, or shorter distros):
1. Ubuntu - it is great, user friendly. If you want full customization you should try older versions of Ubuntu, like 10.10 or 11.04. http://ubuntu.com/

2. Linux Mint 12 - the distro I'm using now. It's as great as Ubuntu, if not greater. It's interface is very very nice, and I love it. http://linuxmint.com/

Have a nice day, and good luck on learning the ropes to this great system, Linux!
I hope I helped!

How do you install a program on linux?
Q. I am new to linux and do not understand the file extensions, i have a tar.gz file that is the Wicd Network Manager because it doesn't work so i am trying to install it because it is not found on the system. How do i go about installing this file.

A. The file tar.gz is a compressed file, much like a .zip file so first you must uncompress it. Usually double clicking in many distros will work.
Then you will have to install it. The methods to do this depend on the linux distro (ubuntu, SUSE, mint, knoppix, red hat, DSL) you are using and the file type (.deb, .sh) that is compressed in the tar.gz file (also called a tarball).
Also, you have to understand what dependencies you need to fulfill to install the program (what libraries you need).
Search the forums for the program you wish to install for the specific linux distribution you are using.
I highly reccomend that you buy a book for your new linux distro. That is how I learned. Linux is not windows, you can't just doubleclick everything you want to install. It makes it harder to install programs but in the end provides a more stable and secure system.



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