Ubuntu® Linux® Bible: Featuring Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, Third Edition

Chapter 29. Setting Up a Web Server

IN THIS CHAPTER

• WWW 101

• Introduction to Apache

• Installing Apache

• Configuring Apache

• Troubleshooting your Web server

Most of the significant advances in computing technology have what is known as a killer app (killer application)—one significantly unique, powerful, and compelling type of application that draws people to that technology in droves and makes it a part of the computing landscape for the foreseeable future. For personal computers in general, that application was the spreadsheet. For the Apple Macintosh, that application was desktop publishing. And for the Internet, that application was the World Wide Web. Sure, everyone loved e-mail, but the World Wide Web has turned the Internet into a seething pool of e-commerce, personal and technical information, social networking, and who knows what else in the future.

Chapter 8, "Surfing the Web with Firefox," explained how to use Firefox, the world's best Web browser, to surf the Web. This section explains the flip side of surfing the Web, which is how to set up a Web server so that you can deliver web pages and other content over the Web to anyone who has access to your server. Most businesses and academic environments today have both externally available and internal-only Web servers. Many people even set up Web servers on their home networks to facilitate Web-based scheduling, document sharing, a central repository for photos, and just about anything else that you can think of.

This chapter begins ...