[Discuss] A Web Server is No Longer a Web Server

[ron at bclug.ca (Ron)]

Kent Borg wrote on 2025-10-25 07:23:

> which, to the writer of the thing I read, translated into they no
> longer need a web server.

The term "serverless" has a meaning beyond "no server":

> What is serverless computing?
> 
> Serverless computing is a method of providing backend services on an 
> as-used basis. A serverless provider allows users to write and deploy code 
> without the hassle of worrying about the underlying infrastructure. A 
> company that gets backend services from a serverless vendor is charged 
> based on their computation and do not have to reserve and pay for a fixed 
> amount of bandwidth or number of servers, as the service is auto-scaling. 
> Note that despite the name serverless, physical servers are still used but 
> developers do not need to be aware of them.

https://www.cloudflare.com/en-ca/learning/serverless/what-is-serverless/



> It has turned into an OS, kind of.

Indeed, and that's a Good Thing?.

If it weren't for JavaScript, HTML 5, and CSS, Linux would be a second 
class citizen on the internet.

Jitsi meetings would have us all struggling to run jitsi.exe in Wine.

Banking likewise with IE.exe. etc. ad nauseam.


The web has evolved into an application delivery mechanism and it cannot 
be overstated how good that is.

Perfect? No, but don't let that be the enemy of Good Enough.


One can now deliver their applications to all users; Mac, Windows, 
Linux, iOS, Android,... with one code base.

Updates take effect immediately.

Compiling, packaging, and distribution for a gazillion Linux derivatives 
plus other platforms, hardware, etc. is trivial by comparison to old 
"web 1.0" days.


The alternative is not forgotten - we've lived through it and it sucked.

Especially those of us with a fondness for running OS/2 back in the day.