ICMP Ping echo-request

[Invert]

I agree with Grok about the PING. Also I like ASP.NET over Java.

Why I use ASP.NET:
Better Language Support
Programmable Controls
Event Driven Programming
XML Based Components  
Higher Scalability
Increased Performance - Compiled Code
Uses the new ADO .NET
Supports full Visual Basic
Supports C# and C++.
Supports JScript as before

Now tell me why I would use the slower Java over .NET?

[Grok]

Don't forget that with ASP.NET, writing postbacks is incredibly simple.

[Yoni]

Now tell me why I would use the slower Java over .NET?

Perhaps you want it to work (natively) in non-Microsoft platforms?

(I don't consider ports of .NET to other platforms native, nor know whether they exist, and if so, how well they work.)

[Invert]

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-960049.html

[Grok]

Very good point made.

Recently a company for which I do programming with considered the cost of Linux and possibly replacing Windows on the desktop throughout the corporation.  It was rejected.  Why?  The cost of retraining all the PC developers to learn all new APIs on Linux, the architecture, and get up to speed was much more than the value of switching *might* save on licensing.  The cost of finding and hiring Linux pc technical experts in this small town would have been double per person than similar Windows pc technicians.

[Banana fanna fo fanna]

Why I use PHP:
Better support via forums
XML doesn't saturate everything as it does in .NET
Higher Scalability
Increased Performance - Zend Optimizing Engine
Uses the new PEAR
One unified language

[Invert]

Wow, no really, I'm not surprised that some one tried to bring up PHP.

Why PHP blows compared to ASP.NET? Let's see... Object Oriented Programming vs Scripting. Should I even continue? If you like OOP, you can use ASP.NET and all your pages are defined as classes and instantiated on the server so that they can have their own instance variables that you can use as you would multiple objects with their own properties per instance. The OOP design also makes it easier to work with other objects (such as files) where, in PHP, you have to use several methods even to setup your file pointer and use it.

Why I would not use PHP over ASP.NET
1) You don't have to use those ridiculous $ signs in front of variables.

2) Session and cookie management is light years easier and more powerful in ASP.NET.

3) Speed: ASP.NET apps are compiled, and much much faster than their PHP equivalent.

4) It's easy to confine your business logic to high performance, compiled objects.

5) Using ASP.NET probably means you won't have to use that shitty MySQL database engine.

I can go on if you'd like...

Just don't imply that PHP is better than ASP.NET and you won't sound stupid.

[herzog_zwei]

Grok and I had a brief discussion about PING.  I have searched deep into my soul and feel that the following line expresses my true feelings about people pinging me.

ipchains -A INPUT -p -icmp -m -icmp --icmp-type echo-request -j DROP

On my personal network, I'd go with the DROP policy for all but certain IPs (so I can remotely check if my connection is still up instead of assuming that if the web server is down, the machine is also down).  Private networks should never respond to public echo-request queries from strangers because they might be checking out your network to prepare for an attack.  However, for public servers, I"d rather see a default policy of something along the lines of:

 iptables -A BAD -p icmp --icmp-type echo-request -m limit --limit 4/s --limit-burst 10 -j RETURN
 iptables -A BAD -p icmp --icmp-type echo-request -j ATTACKED

This would lessen the damage of ping floods by the same amount that an indiscriminate DROP would do during an attack (well, not quite the theoretical 50%, but close enough), but still allow for non-abusive queries to the public network so you can at least verify that the network/servers are up.  If you were to do something similar, you should make sure your ATTACKED tables are set up to not cause a DoS due to the amount of attack data you wish to log (you can do this by making rules similar to the icmp one where it allows up to a certain rate of data logging and drops any that exceed that rate).  You might also want to drop echo-requests with large loads.

[Arta]

you have to use several methods even to setup your file pointer and use it.

Um, explain?

Why I would not use PHP over ASP.NET
1) You don't have to use those ridiculous $ signs in front of variables.

That's a silly reason (entirely aesthetic)

2) Session and cookie management is light years easier and more powerful in ASP.NET.

Howso?

4) It's easy to confine your business logic to high performance, compiled objects.

Since when did PHP not support OO? PHP's OO support is not complete, I grant you, but it's entirely adequate for 'confining business logic'.

5) Using ASP.NET probably means you won't have to use that shitty MySQL database engine.

Enumerate, please, the ways in which MySQL is shitty.

PHP is an excellent language. I won't compare it to ASP because I don't know enough about ASP (with or without .NET) but the points you have made here are mostly irrelevant.

[Grok]

2) Session and cookie management is light years easier and more powerful in ASP.NET.

Howso?

With .NET, you can cluster servers and maintain session state with no added effort by the website architect.  Thus if you're running a bank of 12 web servers and a user first connects to #1, then his next click is sent to #2, the cluster treats his session as the same.

4) It's easy to confine your business logic to high performance, compiled objects.

Since when did PHP not support OO? PHP's OO support is not complete, I grant you, but it's entirely adequate for 'confining business logic'.

Does PHP support distributed transaction processing?

5) Using ASP.NET probably means you won't have to use that shitty MySQL database engine.

Enumerate, please, the ways in which MySQL is shitty.

The query compilation and optimization is patently (your favorite word today) slower than Oracle and MSSQL.

PHP is an excellent language. I won't compare it to ASP because I don't know enough about ASP (with or without .NET) but the points you have made here are mostly irrelevant.

PHP is a toy language for toy programmers writing toy websites.  Very few CIOs will last long in their positions by allowing their programming staff to write PHP applications for their corporate servers.