[NTLUG:Discuss] what is the best Linux web page developing tool?

[Richard C. Cobbe]

Lo, on Tuesday, March 20, Chris Cox did write:

> I do recommend the server side approach, where some
> kind of server side language (e.g. php, perl) is used
> to create and manipulate content.  Just using HTML
> templates is ok... but seems a little bit antiquated
> nowadays (Chris says this realizing that the NTLUG site
> is pretty antiquated).

I'll agree with everyone upstream; server-side processing is the way to go.
Why do the work manually when the computer can do it for you?

I do, however, have some problems with the unspoken implication that
php/perl/brl/whatever are better than html templates just because they're
newer.  (If this isn't what you're actually trying to say, Chris, my
apologies.)

These server-side scripting languages are no doubt wonderful if you've got
dynamic content.  However, IIRC, the original poster was asking about tools
for generating *static* content.  If that is the case (and he doesn't need
to update these static pages too frequently), then I suspect that a
server-side scripting engine would be overkill, both in terms of server
resources and developer resources---why learn *another* language just to
automate web page production?  Using a shell script to generate the static
HTML files is certainly a much simpler solution, and it's quite sufficient
for this sort of problem.

Call me old-fashioned if you like, but I'm a big believer in "the right
tool for the right job".  Seems to me that using PHP to generate static
content is a bit like using a semi-trailer to transport a single
mass-market paperback.

Richard