[BlueOnyx:12379] Re: Solarspeed / Compass / BlueOnyx stores

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Jeff,

> I would prefer to just pay $$ per license per month like 
> with Interworx, and for all the essentials (PHP,
> PHPMyAdmin, AV Spam, etc) to all be included.

Yes, this is actually something we're considering to offer as well:

A "pay as you go" model where you don't pay for the software packages
upfront. Instead you pay for their monthly usage. Of course that would
also mean that there is a mechanism that can automatically disable or
uninstall the software if the client ends the contract.

We need to sort out some technical details first, but in the somewhat
longer haul it'll be offered.

> Moving to Litespeed has also shown me how much of a resource hog 
> Apache is with SuPHP. Using SuPHP with Litespeed, there is almost
> no hit and it flys along. So I  think for the future - it would
> be great to see LiteSpeed integration with BX. NGINX is probably
> faster - but LiteSpeed has the Apache compatibility and would
> therefore be much easier to implement.

Oh yes, that is true. There are quite some interesting alternatives out
there. While I'm working on the next BlueOnyx version I've been
pondering possibilities and options. There are quite a few:

- Apache with or w/o Varnish in front
- Nginx with or w/o Varnish, plus PHP-FPM and fast-CGI
- Apache with Lighttpd as a sidekick for serving static content
- LiteSpeed

Step number one for making this possible in the longer run will be to
remove the total dependency of BlueOnyx on Apache, so that - at a later
time - it becomes possible to just switch to another webserver by the
means of simply installing a different PKG or module that replaces
Apache with the webserver of choice. Or to include another webserver by
default, which can be activated through the GUI - at which time also a
conversion of the config files takes place.

It's not yet fully decided which route we'll go for providing web server
alternatives. But like said: The first step is to make sure that things
get a bit more modular and that BlueOnyx can work without expecting
Apache to be there at every step of the way.

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber