LAMP
LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP and refers to the "technology stack" that's used by the most popular web applications such as Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla!, MediaWiki and GNU social to name a few.
Linux
We normally use Debian on our servers, but Ubuntu is also used on some too. On our desktops and notebooks we use Linux Mint. Ubuntu and Linux Mint are both based on Debian, so the instructions for installations and configurations apply to all of three without any changes.
Apache
Apache is the most popular web-server, but these days Nginx is becoming very competitive with it. Nginx is more efficient than Apache and is the web-server we prefer to use in our installations.
MySQL
MySQL is a free open source database server, but a few years back it was bought out by Oracle. While it's still open source, the main developers didn't like the direction Oracle were taking it in, so they split off to make their own version called MariaDB which is the database server we use at Organic Design and recommend for projects we're setting up for others.
PHP
PHP is the programming language that LAMP applications are written in. It runs on the server, but it's also a good idea to get familiar with JavaScript which runs on the user's side in the browser and all web applications these days use extensively.
First steps guide
I downloaded Linux Mint 18 (Cinnamon) from their download page and installed Rufus on my Windows machine (an application for Windows to format and create a bootable USB drive) to put the Mint 18 ISO on my 8GB USB. Goodbye Windows it was!
Once Mint was installed I click on Menu at the bottom and opened software manager then searched for and installed Nginx (which I'll be learning to use first before Apache). I also searched for MariaDB in the software manager and installed this on Mint.
