After wasting a couple days playing with the wonders of X (which I really like tons) I finally got round to installing the web server stuff. For the most part it works, and I have an almost fully functional duplicate of my web site running on the local server (I haven't reconfigured all of the scripts to run locally yet). W3T is running dandy, it seems, but I haven't tested it that much and I'm still concerned that there may be something wrong with DBI because the createtable.pl failed somewhere in the middle, and I ended up building the tables from a dump of the live database. I guess I'll see how that goes when I'm further along, but setting up my first user and my first category and board was no problem.<br /><br />But I'm still having some problems with mysql and php3. First thing, in mysql how the heck do I add a new user and give that user permission to manipulate a particular database? Right now I'm just accessing mysql as root. When I tried adding a new user from mysqlaccess I thought I had it, but instead that user seemed to have overwritten root, and at any rate I ceased to have access as ANY user and I had to delete the grant table files and start over. Mysql also seems to have the bad habit of jumping willy-nilly between running as localhost and running as the machine name. Any idea why or how I can make it stop? When it runs as the machine name it runs through TCP/IP rather than through a socket.<br /><br />And I'm having trouble installing PHP3 with mysql support. (At least I think that's the problem... php pages that send the mysql_connect() command always fail and report it as a an undefined function). I installed php using debian files. It configured itself as a module to apache and I thought all was good. But then I had this problem. The PHP site doesn't say anything about installing with deb files, but it does rant against installing with RPM binaries, because they don't set up proper mysql support. So I thought maybe this was my problem and that I'd try installing from source.<br /><br />Fine, but when I try to install from source, I run into a new set of problems. What you do is set a bunch of config options, and from that it makes a config.cache file from which it will make the install files. But it tries to do this automaticaly. It locates gcc and tries to compile, but then it tells me gcc can not compile executables. I don't tell it to look for gcc... it just picks that. So I'm never able to get as far as sending the make and make install commands, which are the next things the instructions tell me to do. I was able to do make on the perl modules needed by w3t, but I don't suppose those are using a c compiler, so I doubt it makes any diffeence. Any suggestions?<br /><br />Thanks<br />Phoenix<br />(who has been trying really awfully hard not to ask any questions)<br /><br />

Phoenix,<br /><br />Try looking at some of the tutorials on this site <A HREF="http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/MySQL/" target="_new">http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/MySQL/</A>.<br /><br />They'll probably get you a bit further with the mySQL part of it...<br /><br />and on the <A HREF="http://www.mysql.org" target="_new">http://www.mysql.org</A> page, there are a number of discussion groups (mailing lists) listed where you might get more informed help on compiling on debian...<br /><br />Hope that helps!<br /><br />matt<br /><br />

Matt, Thanks so much for the push in the right direction. I did manage to get everything working together as it ought to. I really appreciate the pointers as to where to look things up. It's helped a lot.<br /><br />For those of you who are considering doing this (gee just a few days ago, there were several... where'd you all go? []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/]) and who like me know nothing about nothing when it comes to Linux, here are a few things I have learned which may help you along...<br /><br />You will install from scratch more than once. When the time comes, don't fight it. You'll only drag it out longer. it is possible that you've foobared it completely. Get a cup of coffee or tea and start fresh.<br /><br />I can not fathom why the Enlightenement/Gnome desktop combination is so popular (other than it's really beautiful and wonderful and everything) because these are two of the most complicated damned things I've had to install. And that's after installing apache with SSL and php and all kinds of bits attached. Gnome and Enlightenment come in about 5 billion pieces and you have to find them and figure out how to put them all together. This is not a small job. If it came with your linux distribution, the instructions will be wrong anyway.<br /><br />Do not bother trying to install apache, mysql, and php from binary if you want them to all work together (as in access databases with php). The binaries (at least for debian and red hat) are not set up properly to make the 3 work together. Install them all from source.<br /><br />Do not under any circumstances be lured into trying to install a package that requires you to first upgrade libc6 (or libc5 if that's what you've got). Even if it's a micro-upgrade. Don't do it. It will appear to have gone smoothly. But everything will start to fail. Your C compiler will no longer work. Lots of things will no longer work. You will spend so much time trying to resolve conflicts (which turn out to be an enormous web) that you might as well have downloaded and installed a whole new linux distribution. This will lead you to treat your pets, friends, and lawyers quite gruffly.<br /><br />In regard to any packages that will have to work together or are co-dependant in some way, do not try to install some parts from binary and some parts from source. Binary and source installations put stuff and look for stuff in totally different places, and so your packages that were supposed to work together will not even see each other.<br /><br />Phoenix<br /><br /><br /><br />

You are one amazing lady! A brilliant operation. I'm one of those "interested" people who saw what you were going through and immediately did a quick about-face. Maybe later...<br /><br />[]http://www.amdragon.com/images/eileensig.gif[/]

Glad I could help! Linux can be lots of fun. Once you get started in it, it's almost addictive... you're always checking for the latest kernel patches/developments... any new versions of databases, programming tools, etc... and just finding ways to tweak the performance of what you have...<br /><br />Now that you have it running, you should try setting up a firewall and a proxy server! []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/] Use that pc to route all your pc's to the internet... and block others from getting in to your internal network... that's always fun! []/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/]<br /><br />Matt<br /><br />

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr><p>it's almost addictive... you're always checking for the latest kernel patches/developments... any new versions of databases, programming tools, etc... and just finding ways to tweak the performance of what you have...<p><hr></blockquote><p>Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I'm already annoyed because I'm running the slink dist. of Debian (the current stable) and it's old. All of the cool software I find needs upgraded versions of the base packages. Meantime the next debian dist. is in the debugging stage and should be released very soon... but I have to wait for that before I can install any of the software I want. (Or I could download and install the not-quite-ready dist. and just chance it, but I don't dare and anyway I am on a 56K modem... it would take the rest of my life to download.) So that's just frustrating. (And that, btw, is how I came to unknowingly install an updated version of libc6 and squash my whole system.)<br /><br />The proxy and firewall thing sounds like a whole heck of a lot of fun *sigh* but I'm going to have to miss out on the hootinanny because I'm on a standalone dialout system... although I'm already thinking I ought to run Linux on a separate physical machine and network them so I can run Linux and Win at the same time [see "addictive" comment above] which still wouldn't require a proxy server or a firewall. []/w3timages/icons/frown.gif[/] Maybe someday I'll get to do that too, if I'm a very good girl and eat all my lima beans. []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/]<br /><br />But I do feel like I'm learning a lot, or at least getting a much clearer perspective on what a computer does behind the curtains. I'm drugged on sinus meds right now so I can't explain what I mean in English []/w3timages/icons/crazy.gif[/] but it puts Windows into a different perspective as well. I did used to use DOS back in that day, but that was nowhere near as good a learning tool.<br /><br />I'm still in no danger of becoming a command-line person, though. I like my icons and colors and pretty pictures, and when I use the command line I prefer to do it in a terminal window that I can minimize and that has a scroll bar.<br /><br />Phoenix<br /><br />

Phoenix (and all others interested in Linux),<br /><br />If you want to get the latest stable releases (cheaply!) of most of the Linux distributions, visit <A HREF="http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart" target="_new">http://cart.cheapbytes.com/cgi-bin/cart</A>. They have good prices, ship quickly, and are pretty reliable. However, if you want the source to a particular distro, make sure it says that it is included. Otherwise, you are likely to get a binary installation (which, as Phoenix pointed out, may cause you problems down the road.).<br /><br />Enjoy!<br /><br />Matt<br /><br />

It looks like cheapbytes doesn't sell Debian with the source disks. The full debian package with source included is 4 CDs and they only sell the first 2, which means the base install and the Debian archive of "deb" files. But Debian's site has a whole list of folks who sell the CDs (including cheapbytes) and there are others who do sell the source disks for still really cheap.<br /><br />The thing to be careful about with these guys who sell the disks (often on CDR) seems to be to watch out for what they want you to pay for shipping. Some of them will sell you a CD for $2 and then charge you $10 for shipping (via regular US mail!). That's just plain dishonest, and I'd rather they tell me the truth... charge me $10 for the software and $2 for the postage. I won't give money to people who start off by lying to me.<br /><br />In the Good News section of developments... I got my books yesterday. I bought O'Reilly's "Running Linux" and "Linux in a Nutshell" but delivery was delayed and I'd been waiting. Now that I've got them, I wholeheartedly recommend the "Running Linux" book to anyone who wants to set up Linux. It's in English. I can understand it. And if I'd had it before I started with all of this I would easily have avoided a lot of the pits I've fallen into. It's already cleared up a lot of things for me, and I've barely even started into it. The "Nutshell" book will, I think, sit on the bookshelf for a while because the nutshell books are intended as resource books for folks who already have a clue, but it will eventually come in handy. But if you want to install Linux and you don't know what it's all about, get the "Running Linux" book. Good stuff.<br /><br />Phoenix<br /><br />

I forgot there for a moment... I still have a libc6 question. The "Running Linux" book doesn't much go into this point because at the time of writing, libc6 was just being phased in and libc5 was still the norm. It sounds like with libc5 you could upgrade the library (carefully) but with libc6, you can't just upgrade the library and expect your programs which were compiled to earlier versions to run. Is that correct?<br /><br />The book sort of suggests that, and it would seem to me that it means that when the new Debian version is released I'll have to do a clean reinstall because it uses a later version of libc6 and my current programs are compiled to the earlier one. Blech! If that's true, I feel lke I should avoid adding anything at all new for now because the new release is imminent, and I could find myself redoing all of this as soon as next week. (The current debian stable release is just over a year old, so this is an upgrade I definitely want if I want to be able to install any recent programs.)<br /><br />Phoenix<br /><br />

Phoenix,<br /><br />I don't know much about upgrading to libc6, but a quick search on Google gave these sites to look at:<br /><A HREF="http://www.gate.net/~storm/FAQ/libc5-libc6-Mini-HOWTO.html" target="_new">http://www.gate.net/~storm/FAQ/libc5-libc6-Mini-HOWTO.html</A><br /><A HREF="http://www.bitmechanic.com/mail-archives/mysql/Jan1998/0006.html" target="_new">http://www.bitmechanic.com/mail-archives/mysql/Jan1998/0006.html</A><br /><A HREF="http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/debian-faq-4.html#ss4.5" target="_new">http://www.debian.org/doc/FAQ/debian-faq-4.html#ss4.5</A><br /><A HREF="http://ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/slink/main/upgrade-older-i386/README-upgrade" target="_new">http://ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/slink/main/upgrade-older-i386/README-upgrade</A><br /><br />I don't know that any of those will give you information that you don't already have, but, who knows? []/w3timages/icons/wink.gif[/]<br /><br />Yeah, I know that shipping charges can sometimes be expensive, but I've been pretty happy with cheapbytes... they charge about $5.00, which compared to how long I would have to be online to download a full release, is acceptable to me.<br /><br />Anyway, have a fun morning!<br /><br />Matt<br /><br /><br />

Hmm... thanks again for the pointers. So far searching those and the debian mailing list archives has not turned up a straight answer. Everything that addresses this issue is a bit ambigous. I think that my original interpretation was wrong... I believe that the point they are making is that programs compiled against libc5 (glibc) will not be compatible with libc6 (glibc2) which is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned, and it wouldn't mean that minor versions of libc6 were incompatible with each other.<br /><br />If I find an authoritative answer (or when I break my system again by misunderstanding the given information) I'll post the answer here.<br /><br />Phoenix <br /><br />