[Koha] Koha & Xampp or lamp

[Vimal Kumar]

Dear Friends,

I noticed queries appreared in this discussion forum about the availability
of Koha (3.x) windows version. Many Library professionals like to see latest
version of Koha work with Windows. XAMPP and EasyPHP with Windows are very
popular among non techie librarians due to its user friendliness.

We cannot blame admirers of Windows OS. Windows arrived early in desktop OS
market and made popularity due to its user friendliness. As a library
professional, may I share one experience regarding the inconsistency of
Windows while using for the installation of library management system like
Koha. Virus attack and related vulnerabilities make Windows operating system
not suitable for production server purpose. I installed Koha windows version
more than four times in this year for a school library in our city. The
school Librarian is one of my friend he is a non techie. His OS was Windows
XP and formatted the system every two month due to virus attack. In this
situation he could not enjoy the service of Koha. Last month I installed
Koha with Mint Linux (www.
<http://www.linuxmint.com/>*linuxmint*.com<http://www.linuxmint.com/>)
erasing Windows in his system. After that, he has not complained regarding
virus and Koha run there well. Mint Linux provides good user friendly
interface. My friend work with Linux and Koha without any difficulty. He is
using the Linux based applications for his day to day activities (word
processing, net surfing etc). In my experience Linux OS is more suitable for
Koha. Majority of the Library professionals are not familiar with Linux and
therefore they are not in a position to install Koha with Linux. I hope that
Koha Live CD is a good solution to this problem. Mizstik project (
http://mizstik.com/projects/koha-livecd/) is a good initiative to this
direction. I hope that more Koha Live CD's would develop on various Linux
distributions and then installation of Koha will not be a difficulty.

My request to library professionals is that, try to use Koha latest version
with Linux instead of trying previous Windows version (2.x). If you are not
familiar with Linux and Koha, try to attend Koha workshop organize soon in
your area and acquire the technical competency.


-- 
Vimal Kumar V.
Asst. Librarian
Asian School of Business
Technopark, Trivandrum-695 581
Web: www.vimalkumar.co.nr
Blog: http://vimalkumar.oksociety.in

OK Society Volunteer. http://oksociety.in
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