Mac OS 10.7 Server vs Ubuntu for SME intranet

What are the pros and cons of deploying a custom web-based intranet solution on OS 10.7 Server as opposed to an Ubuntu machine? The head of IT at our non-profit org is a mac-nut (I am too, just not for deployment of my web apps) and can't stand the idea of an Ubuntu box ruining his Mac-only setup. What issues am I bound to run int开发者_运维知识库o if I were to have to test and deploy PHP and Python/Ruby apps (using both mysql and postgres) on a 10.7 Lion server environment?

(out IT dep't doesn't have any clue about the command line or web dev as such)

Well I guess the first thing to point out to the IT department is that both of those platforms are Linux based, one of them happens to have a nice user interface though.

Whilst there is nothing stopping you running these apps on your OSX box these are some of the points I would consider.

• Regardless of which OS you use there will be no getting away from the command line for setting up and running the web server
• As and when you run into setup issues you will find it much easier to get free support for an Ubuntu web server than an OSX based one
• As a non profit organisation there will be hardware and software savings using Ubuntu

Unfortunately OS X is not Linux based. I would however argue that Ubuntu, or Centos is a better option when it comes to server installations. Although the preference may be for a mac/OSX 10.7 server, I would argue that the you should be very cautious in regards to the limitations of Lion Server.

Some key things to point out is that you may want to look at Ubuntu server for the sole purpose of integrated virtualization. This will allow you to get more from your server as well as isolate your web applications into VM's for a higher level of protection all while maintaining the stability of the host OS. I have many no profits that I work with who use Mac's on the front end and Linux on the server backend.