Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2001 17:58:05 +0100
From: Roger Espel Llima <roger@iagora.net>
Subject: iAgora - Study, Travel, Work Abroad - Connecting Internationals
URL: http://www.iagora.com/
Traffic: several million hits / month

iAgora was started in mid-1998, as a community site for
internationally minded people.  After investigating the major
existing web development systems, we chose to go with Linux, Apache
and mod_perl.  Three years later, we're very happy with this choice.  

At iAgora we are constantly adding features and sections to our
site, and refining the ones we have.  For us it was very important
to have a flexible platform, that would give us complete freedom in
organizing our code, and customizing how the pages are generated.

We have found the combination of Linux, Apache and mod_perl to be:

* cost-effective

There are no software licences to pay, the programs are easy enough
to install and configure, and many free support and middleware
modules can be obtained from CPAN.  

* stable

The running servers have had very few crashes, and generally not
needed much maintenance.  We have also found it very useful to be
able to administer the servers remotely.

* flexible

Since mod_perl lets perl access low-level hooks within Apache, it is
possible to have complete control over any aspect of its operation.

For instance, we found it easy and convenient to create virtual
URLs, where some path elements were matched to database queries
rather than directories on disk, while still basically serving an
HTML file.

* adapted for large site creation

Mod_perl gives us complete control over how HTML and perl code
interface to each other.  By using a templating to the fullest
extent, we minimize the amount of duplication both in HTML and perl.
This also lets us have common navigation and design accross the
whole site, while separately maintaining the various form-based
applications that make the site.

Contact Person: 

* Technical: Roger Espel Llima <roger@iagora.net> 
* Business:  Philippe Negre <philippe@iagora.net>

