Is there any major difference between XAMPP and LAMP?

Question

Recently I sent my CV to a small company which required a web developer, but one condition was that I should know how to work with LAMP. So I took part in the contest, but today I started to wonder if those packages are as similar as I think.

So, are they?

I am using: XAMPP (Basispaket) version 1.7.1 on Windows 7 and planning to install LAMP on Ubuntu 10.04 (don't know the version yet).

UPDATE: I read some articles about LAMP setup and I only found, that you just need to separately install Apache, PHP, and MySQL. I'm confused; so isn't there's any control panel like in XAMPP? If so, then I'm asking about those major differences.

Answer 1

LAMP is an acronym for Linux (operating system), Apache HTTP Server, MySQL (database software), and PHP. If you're running Windows the acronym is WAMP.

XAMPP is a package you can use to easily install and configure a (in your case) WAMP or LAMP setup. If they are asking LAMP they probably expect some Linux and Apache knowledge, but it could also be they are just expecting a PHP programmer with MySQL skills. You'll find out what they're looking for in the job interview ;).

Answer 2

LAMP and WAMP are generic terms for any Apache web server, MySQL database, and Perl or PHP or Python language, based system.

XAMPP is a specific software package that contains all the elements of an *AMP system in a single package. There are several packages like this (WampServer to name one).

The software install process on Ubuntu is so straightforward that many people prefer to install the components individually and run a leaner and meaner setup.