Perens pushes open-source domain parking

Open-source advocate Bruce Perens has launched an initiative to discourage owners of undeveloped Web domains from hosting them on servers running proprietary software.

Perens wants domain owners and resellers to redirect unused Web domains--which have been registered but not yet developed--to OpenSourceParking.com. Perens said this site will always run on Apache, the popular open-source Web server software.

Perens announced the move after Microsoft's Internet Information Services software saw its share of the Web server market jump by 4.7 percent in April 2006, according to figures from Netcraft, which monitors the Web server market.

IIS' gain apparently came at the expense of Apache, which saw its market share drop by nearly 6 percent. Perens blames this switch on domain registrar GoDaddy.com, which has just migrated 4.5 million parked domains from servers running Apache to those based on IIS.

Writing on OpenSourceParking.com, Perens urged the free and open-source software community to take action.

"Microsoft has been paying the large domain resellers to move their 'parked' sites to IIS on Microsoft Server. Moving the parked customers of a single large reseller, GoDaddy.com, caused a shift of 4.5 million domain names, or 5 percent of total server share, from Apache to Microsoft IIS in the Netcraft report. This is an 'appearance' change only, because the sites involved have no content. But managers believe figures like those in the Netcraft report, and act on them," Perens wrote.

Apache still dominates the Web server market. According to Netcraft's figures for April 2006, Apache has 62 percent of the market, compared to IIS's 25 percent.

Netcraft also argued that Apache doesn't need much help in the domain parking market.

"The Apache Web server has been the primary beneficiary of any 'appearance' benefit from parked domains," wrote Netcraft analyst Rich Miller. "Apache is used by domain registrars Register.com, 1&1 Internet, Dotster and DirectNIC, while GoDaddy and Enom use Windows Server 2003 and Network Solutions runs on the Solaris OS and SunOne server."

Graeme Wearden of ZDNet UK reported from London.

[Neotrope]

Can I get a free promotional article, too?

I'm sorry but this seems like a blatant promotional piece for somebody's website. Why would anybody want to have their domain parked on a private person's/company's domain? And who cares whether IIS has a tick more market share than Apache (all of our servers run Apache and Red Hat ES3). I suppose we should setup websites for Apple and tell everybody who doesn't own an Apple to host their machines on MacOS so the Apple percentage will go up. Simply adding the word "opensource" or "open" to a web venture does not make it either notable nor worthwhile in the context of market conditions, usage of any particular technology, or puff pieces like this.

[WJeansonne]

What a joke.

Some can't stand the fact the IIS is a better Web platform. Moreover, they just hate Microsoft technology. I for one have complained to Godaddy for trying to host Windows solutions on Unix servers because of the lousy performance. It looks like they may have taken my advice as well as others and ditched those clunky Unix based (1960's technology) servers like Apache and Linux for smooth running and modern Windows 2003 Servers.

Good for GoDaddy!!

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Story confirms a truth

In the IIS vs Apache numbers game (strange how all the other players no longer seem to get any mention at all?) it's long been told that a large percentage of sites are unused (no content) with an additional large percentage of sites with content but no activity while the IIS sites tend to be both in use and active.

With this change that charge can no longer be leveled since IIS now holds a large percentage of the unused sites.

Counting marketshare by counting the websites is obviously a flawed concept in the first place but how do you get a more accurate count? The nearest alternative statistic of counting the servers instead of the sites doesn't really help either because servers can host large numbers of sites and while some are inactive or unused others could be highly active.

[X99]

What's Good for the Goose...

> This is an 'appearance' change only, because
> the sites involved have no content. But
> managers believe figures like those in the
> Netcraft report, and act on them," Perens
> wrote.

Ah yes, well, he must be really upset about
the way "new" Linux shipments are reported
too. A "new" Linux shipment is a copy of Linux
which is sent to a retailer and placed on a
shelf. Whether or not it is actually bought and
installed by someone is irrelevant to those who
stand to gain from such a (dishonest) statistic.

I've been doing nothing but Linux development
for the last four years so I'm not a Windows
fanboy. But if Bruce wants to cry (which he
does a lot of) about "appearances" then maybe
some of those in the Linux industry should take
his advice. After all, fair is fair, and right
is right.

[WJeansonne]

No arse kissing here

I suppose that's why there are a gazillion applications for Windows and a couple of grand for your so-called *nix applications. You are the one that's confused about programmability--or lack thereof in the case of *nix. You know how appropos--nix as in nix it! He, he. Here's a definition for you...;-)

ix (nîks) Slang. noun
Nothing.

adverb
Not so; no.

verb, transitive
nixed, nixing, nixes
To forbid, refuse, or veto: Congress nixed the tax hike.

[German dialectal, from Middle High German nihtes, genitive of niht, from Old High German niwiht : ni, not, no + wiht, thing.]

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

[WJeansonne]

No arse kissing here

I suppose that's why there are a gazillion applications for Windows and a couple of grand for your so-called *nix applications. You are the one that's confused about programmability--or lack thereof in the case of *nix. You know how appropos--nix as in nix it! He, he. Here's a definition for you...;-)

ix (nîks) Slang. noun
Nothing.

adverb
Not so; no.

verb, transitive
nixed, nixing, nixes
To forbid, refuse, or veto: Congress nixed the tax hike.

[German dialectal, from Middle High German nihtes, genitive of niht, from Old High German niwiht : ni, not, no + wiht, thing.]

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

[WJeansonne]

No *arse* kissing here

I suppose that's why there are a gazillion applications for Windows and a couple of grand for your so-called *nix applications. You are the one that's confused about programmability--or lack thereof in the case of *nix. You know how appropos--nix as in nix it! He, he. Here's a definition for you...;-)

ix (nîks) Slang. noun
Nothing.

adverb
Not so; no.

verb, transitive
nixed, nixing, nixes
To forbid, refuse, or veto: Congress nixed the tax hike.

[German dialectal, from Middle High German nihtes, genitive of niht, from Old High German niwiht : ni, not, no + wiht, thing.]

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.