SpikeSource, the Kim Polese-Kleiner Perkins open source start-up testing and certifying LAMP stacks, is branching out into free fully configured made-to-order stacks.

Developers will be able to configure a stack from a virtual Chinese menu of the 73 open source components that SpikeSource currently supports. The list includes applications, libraries, web servers and tools.

SpikeSource will put the configuration together and test it for incompatibilities and dependencies and get it to work. It will also throw in a Network Installer that reduces installation time by limiting component downloads to those selected and a Configuration Manager that's supposed to make future reconfigurations easier.

Developers can also get pre-built stacks for specific tasks.

SpikeSource also does completely custom work testing, certifying and maintaining unique stacks that include the user's own custom-made programs. Unlike its other wares, such services go for upwards of $100,000 depending on how many programs are involved, how complex they are, the level of interaction and how many platforms it runs on.

The company has also broadened its platform base to support the commercial Red Hat Linux 4 and the freebie SuSE Linux Professional 9.2. It already supports Fedora Core 3, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and SuSE Linux Professional 9.1.

It's also started supporting PostgresSQL along with phpPgAdmin, pgsql JDBC drivers, Xalan and Xerces. The components can be integrated into the SpikeSource Code stack as part of a preconfigured stack or treated as an option in a made-to-order stack.

SpikeSource stacks are updated quarterly for free or as needed by customers of its $995-a-server update service.

This article originally appeared at www.clientservernews.com