Ask HN: Is the OS stack a factor when developing deployable apps?

2 points by BSousa 16y ago ↗ HN

For my next project I plan to develop a web service that is aimed soley at the enterprise.

While I'll also offer a SaaS option, I think most companies will prefer to install on their own servers. I was wondering for this scenario, if I should stick with .net/Java or installing configuring PHP/Ruby/Python is an OK requirement.

I'm well familiar with ASP.net and RoR but was leaning on RoR for this project (as my day job is .net and wanted a change) but I have that nagging voice in the back of my head saying most companies won't bother installing/configuring RoR to use my product. Any experiences?

2 comments

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ScottWhigham 16y ago ↗

Hmmm - very scant on the details but overall I'd say yes, it's a factor. Like you said, if you deploy on RoR and I don't have it, I'm not likely to buy/use you because it means adding some "system" that I don't know into the mix.

That being said, here's an example of a company who has taken such a problem (Apache on Windows) and completely hidden it from the end user (or at least made it not a big deal): http://www.visualsvn.com/server/

Any .NET developer can now share SVN repositories without the fuss of installing and configuring Apache.

Tichy 16y ago ↗

Bigger companies often have a policy allowing only certain languages. For example I think Google only allows C/C++, Java Python and Javascript (source: http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/06/rhino-on-rails.html )