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September 16, 2002

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OS/2 is Boring Part 2

Webservers? What are they?

They are nothing more then a simple piece of software that gives you webpages.

Ever tried it yourself?

If you have an IP-address you can start one, everyone has this when they connect to the internet.

They all seem to look very hard to run, is it really that hard?

If you use Windows or Linux they are very hard to run. Ever tried to install and configure Apache? I can tell you it's hard to do. Apache on Windows is a real crime, and on Linux you don't have much control over it. Apache is not my idea of a webserver!

The first thing you need is a domainname, well that's easy to get. Just apply for one and once you have it, use a domain name server like http://www.zoneedit.com, it's cheap and easy to use.

When you are lucky to have a mounted IP address, you don't need much more.

When you have a dynamic-IP (one that changes all the time), just go to www.zoneedit.com register and use the domain you like, install Python for OS/2, then look into the dynamic clients for Zoneedit. They have a nice client that will make sure your IP is changed whenever your DHCP lease expires. Why do I like Zoneedit? It's because they are very stable and fast to change their database when your IP changes.

I use Timeboy to check my IP every 30 seconds, if it changes, the Python script will sent the new IP to Zoneedit and it changes my Domain within a few seconds all over the net.

Now do we get to the hard part?

The ingredients we need:

EMX runtime - latest version.
Python for OS/2, found on Hobbes (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu).
Timeboy, or some other scheduler, as long as it can restart the script about every 30 seconds.
Web/2? Yep, the simple webserver.
OS/2 - any version you like as long as it's above 2.0
MPTS - any version

Web/2 is a fast and stable webserver, sure it doesn't have all the features Apache has, but you will be able to set it up in about 2 minutes. Ever seen a webserver running faster and more stable in such little time? I sure never have.

Web/2 is as little as 90KB, but it's fast and has many features that people will like. Better, it has never been hacked - can it be hacked? This little webserver is setup so fast, you won't believe it, and it's stable and fast. The link for Web/2 is http://www.dink.org.

You wonder why I still think OS/2 is boring?

Well this is why: a webserver even this small is running good and fast, what more do you want? Many webservers on other systems are hard to configure and to make safe. This tiny server does about all, won't crash, it's fast, THAT makes it boring!

Trying it is liking it.

OS/2 has this thing with software packages, they are all very small (well most) and they all run stable and fast.

Another nice feature about this server is: you can see what's going on. Most servers won't show such information.

I have dared many hackers to have a go at my Web/2 server, so far none has managed to gain access, again - so boring.

Bas Heijermans has been using computers for 24 years - since he was 12. Bas lives in Belgium and has used OS/2 since version 1.1. He ran The OS/2 BBS and was the Belgium OS/2 Fido moderator. IBM awarded him Official OS/2 Ambassidor in 1992 for his support efforts. Today he repairs computers for a living.

This article is courtesy of www.os2ezine.com. You can view it online at http://www.os2ezine.com/20020916/page_3.html.