text: what is the purpose of active server pages?   active server pages process information inside a webpage and render a result depending on their function. the end user does not see all that is being processed, and sees only the results.  it is a scripting language for html functionality that allows access to the computer and other resources, databases and the likes.  asp is a microsoft language for use on microsoft server operating systems. its linux version would be php, which is 100% free and much more stable and also open source. php runs on windows and linux, hoever linux is the prefered platform for servers.