Slashdot Mirror


Open Source Software for ASPs?

PsychoKodiac wonders: "I am querying the Slashdot community for help concerning ASP pages. I am currently looking for a solution to create and serve ASP content off of my own computer for the time being. I have been referred to mono_mod and SharpDevelop but I am having a difficult time finding guides or references for using these two Open Source products together. I am attracted to them due to the lack of funds needed to use them. I am hoping some one may be able to refer me to guides or perhaps an alternative to these two products if sufficient guides are not present due to the fact that mono_mod and SharpDevelop are still in development."

50 comments

  1. Please evolve by Safety+Cap · · Score: 2, Informative
    You can program in the much more powerful JSP using freely downloadable Tomcat, or you can go Ruby on Rails and do your thing with the available free tools.

    ASP is dead. Please upgrade to the current century.

    Thank you.

    --
    Yeah, right.
    1. Re:Please evolve by $1uck · · Score: 1

      The above seems like a truly obvious trolling attempt. But I can't help but agree. Your looking for free tools? Why don't use languages that are free (and In the experience of many much better). I've done a fair amount of work in JSP and truly enjoy it, I'm tempted to look at php or something simpler, but why ASP?

    2. Re:Please evolve by tim256 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Yes, JSP, php, servlets, and ASP.Net are all superior technologies to ASP. However, I sometimes use ASP for simple intranet sites. It's a little easier than other web languages if you are using Windows. All you have to do is turn on IIS and drop in your asp files. Doesn't everyone already know VB script anyways?

      On the post, the guy said something about mono. Why would you use mono, unless you are using linux or unix? If you're using linux, why would you want to use ASP.Net? That's insane! The original poster needs to buy a book on web development before going further.

    3. Re:Please evolve by LiENUS · · Score: 3, Informative

      This guy means ASP.Net and if hes the guy i'm thinking of its for a class at college, he showed up in #dotgnu on freenode the other day asking a similar question, JSP and Ruby don't do any good for his instructor.

    4. Re:Please evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you disregard the Apache/IIS issues, I can't think of one place where PHP would be appropriate and ASP would not. They're both more-or-less the same shite.

    5. Re:Please evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I can't think of one place where PHP would be appropriate and ASP would not.

      ASP is not suitable if you want the source code. ASP is not suitable if you want to write shell scripts. ASP is not suitable if you want to write GUI applications. ASP doesn't have anything like PEAR. ASP doesn't come with a whole load of extensions for doing things like Flash SWF generation, regexps, etc.

    6. Re:Please evolve by der_joachim · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ASP is dead. Please upgrade to the current century.

      Disagreed. ASP is still widely used. I don't like it. It lacks some nice nifty stuff that is almost standard for languages such as PHP or Perl. But as long as it comes with PWS/IIS, it will be used by developers.

      --
      Geek runner, motorcyclist and professional know-it-all
    7. Re:Please evolve by iwan-nl · · Score: 2, Informative

      JSPs are a good solution for large projects, but for smaller scale projects it would be overkill.

      My advise would be to check out php. It's very similar to "classic" ASP. Another option would be perl, but php is a lot easier to learn if you already know asp.

      --
      I'm trying to improve my English. Please correct me on any spelling/grammar errors in this post.
    8. Re:Please evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      This post is very misinformed. ASP's ActiveScripting can be used for shell scripts and GUI applications. Furthermore, regexps are built in, and there's numerous COM extentions for anything you need, including SWF generation. The only valid point is the lack of a PEAR/CPAN-like repository.

    9. Re:Please evolve by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

      IIS is going to be the last web browser with good ASP support. The last thing left for ASP is the quick and easy access to Access and any other MS sql database.

    10. Re:Please evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ASP's ActiveScripting can be used for shell scripts and GUI applications.

      No. ASP can use Windows Script Host languages. WSH languages do not use ASP. You have it the wrong way around.

      Furthermore, regexps are built in

      No they aren't. They are built into JScript, which is a WSH language. That does no good whatsoever if you are using one of the other WSH languages, including by far the most popular, VBScript.

      there's numerous COM extentions for anything you need

      Most of them are shareware, and they don't come in the base distribution.

      If you are going to accuse somebody of being "very misinformed", please at least try and get the facts straight yourself.

    11. Re:Please evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you smoking?
      Idiot.

    12. Re:Please evolve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're slightly misinformed: You can switch back and forth between VBScript and JScript at will within an ASP. Although supposedly the more context switches, the less performant (nothing I've noticed).

  2. WebMatrix by Goyuix · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you are running Windows, go take a visit to www.asp.net and look at WebMatrix. It also includes a small web server called Cassini that can serve up .NET content as well.

    WebMatrix
    http://www.asp.net/webmatrix/default.aspx?tabIndex =4&tabId=46

    Cassini Web Server
    http://www.asp.net/Projects/Cassini/Download/

    1. Re:WebMatrix by jbplou · · Score: 1

      If you run Win XP Pro or 2000 pro you can run IIS with up to 10 concurrent connections, that should be good enough for most home use. Through it asp and asp.net are both available. Of course that will cost you about $110 for the license

  3. zerg by Lord+Omlette · · Score: 1, Informative

    Don't hate me...

    I'm a huge fan of .NET, don't get me wrong, but either write it yourself or use real open source tools...

    --
    [o]_O
  4. Get your feet wet! by QuietRiot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Jump in and start developing! This is a wonderful way to learn your way around these new packages and explore what they currently can and cannot do. Download the source, compile and try and add a feature your project needs. Give yourself a Saturday or Sunday if you have to work otherwise and see what you can make of it. You'll soon discover whether or not it's ready for your project.

  5. Limitations of Cassini by parvenu74 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Some of the known limitations of Cassini:
    1) Only one ASP.NET application per port.
    2) No support HTTPS
    3) No support of authentication (NTLM, digest)
    4) Only localhost requests

    It's #4 that is the show-stopper since the original post implies (or at least I inferred from it) that content is to be served to more than just localhost requests.

    If you are leaning toward a Mono implemetation, there is the aforementioned mod_mono as well as XSP -- more info here.

    1. Re:Limitations of Cassini by pr0c · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's #4 that is the show-stopper since the original post implies (or at least I inferred from it) that content is to be served to more than just localhost requests.

      It takes all of a few seconds to recompile cassini to answer to anyone... IIRC you simply comment out 3 lines.

      I'm pretty sure this guy hit #C# on Freenode yesterday or so, he is on linux so the cassini stuff isn't going to work for him anyway.

  6. oh, that sort of ASP by DrSkwid · · Score: 0, Offtopic


    I thought you meant Application Service Providers, I wonder what happended to those, perhaps broadband will bring them back!

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    1. Re:oh, that sort of ASP by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      They went underground. Now they just service large businesses.

      A lot of off-site corporate IT shops do the same thing, just in a captive environment.

      Once Broadband saturates the country, you will see microsoft shift to an ASP/Lease model into the homes, then slowly migrate to small business.

      Enterprise level, will still have local IT control for the forseeable future..

      Dont forget it took decades to move away from that model ( mainframe ). It will take longer to get back.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    2. Re:oh, that sort of ASP by leerpm · · Score: 1

      Salesforce.com is doing pretty good as an ASP.

  7. Windows XP by m0rph3us0 · · Score: 1

    Install XP Professional (maybe Home too) / Windows 2000 / Windows 2003 Install IIS & Front Page Extensions from Windows Components installer (Control Panel -> Add / Remove Software -> Windows Components) Install Web Matrix or VS.NET. Develop, Deploy, Serve.

  8. ASP is not open source by Claire-plus-plus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I would say that your best bet would be to use something that is actually open source like PHP. ASP does some pretty cool stuff granted but open source is open source and ASP is not. If you want to save money go with PHP (or JSP not that I know much about JSP). The main benefit of using open source software like PHP or JSP is that you don't have to use a Mico$oft server.

    --
    99 bottles of beer in 175 characte
    1. Re:ASP is not open source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does this shit get voted up as insightful?

    2. Re:ASP is not open source by Claire-plus-plus · · Score: 1

      Re:ASP is not open source (Score:0)
      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 17, @11:25PM (#11698156)
      How does this shit get voted up as insightful?

      Shit? What the hell?

      Maybe you are missing something.

      I would at least put my name to attacks I made.

      --
      99 bottles of beer in 175 characte
    3. Re:ASP is not open source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The OP is talking about an Application Service Provider, so your answer is off-topic.

      - a different AC

    4. Re:ASP is not open source by Claire-plus-plus · · Score: 1

      The OP is talking about an Application Service Provider, so your answer is off-topic.

      Nope, I don't think they are. You will also find that most other people who replied are thinking the same thing I am.

      Is it possible YOU are wrong? It is my job to assume *I* am wrong so that I can get it right eventually.

      --
      99 bottles of beer in 175 characte
  9. Not enough information... by crisco · · Score: 4, Informative
    What are your goals?

    If you wish to learn ASP.NET you should probably look at using Microsoft's technologies, possibly in conjunction with SharpDevelop. There is a great deal of information about ASP.NET online and in print. If you want to know about SharpDevelop, there is a free digital version of their book linked on the page you linked to, maybe thats a good place to start?

    If you want to learn ASP.NET on a free software platform you are up against a steep learning curve. I'd reccomend learning ASP.NET on Windows first and then making the transition to Free Software. Starting from scratch with Mono and mod_mono or XSP will be tough. As you've seen, there isn't yet a large enough community around these things to generate an abundance of tutorials, documentations and other resources. You can adapt from the Windows versions, but you'll have to deal with translating database interfaces, web server differences and minor differences in the C# libraries themselves.

    If you want to learn web programming in general, Apache with PHP might be a better place to start. While PHP has its drawbacks, it is more widely used and has much more open source software available for it than the ASP.NET platform. Other excellent options have already been suggested, like JSP, Python and Ruby on Rails.

    --

    Bleh!

  10. What system are you running? by stoborrobots · · Score: 3, Informative

    If you're running Windows, the easiest thing to run ASP in is IIS if you're on XP/2000, or its little brother PWS on Win9X/ME. (They're free for playing around with.) Note: Neither is available for XP Home.
    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/pwebsrv/d eploy/setuppws.mspx
    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; en-us;306898
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/evaluation/feat ures/iis.mspx
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304197/EN-US/

    If you're not, the easiest way to run your ASP is via a free hosting provider:

    http://www.brinkster.com/Hosting/Educational.aspx
    http://www.aspfree.com/asp/freeasphost.asp
    http://www.alltheweb.com/search?q=free+asp+website +hosting

    HTH.

  11. Then he should object to the instructor by MarkusQ · · Score: 1

    Then he should object to the instructor.

    How would you feel about a Chemistry class that gave assignments that could only be done with DuPont-brand proprietary reagents? Or an Astronomy class that asked you to record the spectrum of an object only detectable if you used Corning (tm) lenses? Or a Math class where the only way to get the "right" answer was to use a certified HP calculator?

    That's not education, that's captive audience marketing.

    --MarkusQ

    1. Re:Then he should object to the instructor by damiam · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And how awful would it be if a course could be completed only with a specific textbook that all students were forced to buy? Oh, the horror!

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    2. Re:Then he should object to the instructor by phyrz · · Score: 2, Informative

      When I was at uni we were given a list of recommended books and it was our choice whether we purachsed them or not. Although some of the books were neccessary, there were always several copies available in the library.

      More often than not I chose to go without the recommended book, instead utilising web resources.

      So yeah, that would suck.

      --
      Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern!
    3. Re:Then he should object to the instructor by mingot · · Score: 1

      What's even better is when the professor wrote the textbook. Had that happen in a psychology and maths class. I hate you, Dr. Charles Rees.

    4. Re:Then he should object to the instructor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was the book you had to buy, written by your instructer finished? I bet it was, you lucky bastard.

      Samurai Porn? Yes. Yes there is.

    5. Re:Then he should object to the instructor by daem0n1x · · Score: 1

      I had prescribed books when I was in school, in university I had reading recommendations, and I would decide to buy the books or not.
      In university I even had the option of attending classes or not. Hell, college students are all adults ,they're not supposed to be treated as kids!
      In which university they force you to buy books? Get outta there while you can. Those guys are crooks.

  12. Know what you are doing. by __aafkqj3628 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Are you talking about ASP or ASP.NET?

    If you are talking about ASP and you're not running Windows, then you'll probably need something like ChillISoft ASP. It's old, not free, but that's the price you pay for using legacy technologies on unsupported systems.

    If you're talking about ASP.NET, then you're looking for mono. I'd suggest you go to http://www.go-mono.net/ and read the documentation there or even use Google. There's more than enough information there to guide you through setup and mailing-lists for these kinds of questions.

    Slashdot's mods approve questions like this (unclear, unstructured, and could be solved with Google), yet reject perfectly good questions that might be of interest to other people.

  13. ASP is often the Only Choice... by haplo21112 · · Score: 1

    ...Personally I'd rather be working in PHP all the time personally and professionally. However the place that pays the salary is a Microsoft shop. Therefore my only web programming choices are ASP, and ASP.net, with a little JSP on one specific project(In this case its because the vendor of other call tracking app has a web interface and it runs in JSP) Basically what it boils down too is I can onlt use what the server group here will allow on the servers that means Microsoft Tech, I can't just instal other App server Tech just because I want to and perfer it.

    --
    Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
  14. ebay.... by orion41us · · Score: 1

    you could always buy windows 2k or small bus server from ebay... you will only nead one seat licence to run IIS.....

  15. Help with ASP.NET by quamaretto · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It sounds like what you need is just a testing environment for ASP.NET code, and some basic instructions. I messed around with this a few weeks ago, so I know where you're at.

    If so, you don't really need Apache/mod_mono; just use XSP, which is just an ASP.NET server written in C# by the Mono project. It may not be as fast, but you can test away with it.

    Your toolbox on your local computer should probably be Mono, mcs (C# compiler), MonoDevelop (Based on SharpDevelop), XSP, and the ASP.NET examples for Mono. These are all provided by the Windows, OS X and Linux packages on go-mono.com. If you're using debian, though, you can get them as seperate packages.

    Once you've got all that, copy the ASP.NET demos into your home directory, then go to that directory and run XSP (in debian, the command is just 'xsp') and take a look at the examples.

    You can change or create .aspx files directly and XSP will compile them for you when you visit them; but compiling libraries and code behind files requires a command along the lines of "mcs -t:library -o CodeBehind.dll CodeBehind.cs" or something.

    I hope that gets you started.

    --
    *is run over by rotten tomatoes*
  16. Use the real deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why bother trying to shoehorn your project into some unfinished tools? If you are developing for a microsoft platform, just use microsoft. your time is worth more than the licensing costs. In addition, if you don't have to run on the microsoft platform, why not use a more appropriate langauge (PHP, Python, Perl)?

  17. Apache? by tonsofpcs · · Score: 1

    Apache::ASP
    Not sure if the ASP mod is open source, but it is Apache.

    1. Re:Apache? by ahdeoz · · Score: 1

      Apache::ASP is perl only.

    2. Re:Apache? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He just wants ASP support, Apache::ASP gives ASP support, whats the problem?

  18. Chilisoft by ahdeoz · · Score: 1

    Sun bought them, I don't know if it's been open sourced. It is (or was) available for free for development use though. I've used chilisoft asp on my dev box and deployed to IIS 5.0 just fine. It's a fairly stable product (with apache 1.3 on windows, less so on linux) with good docs (much better than Microsoft's ASP reference.) The only problem I ran into was a Microsoft bug specific to Sybase ODBC drivers using cursors with ADO was not duplicated in Chilisoft. It's been several years since I used it though. I don't think anything has been updated since Sun bought Cobalt back around 2001.

  19. Minor spelling mistake by haruchai · · Score: 1

    That should be "advice". "Advise" is the verb form.

    --
    Pain is merely failure leaving the body