OK, i followed the online directions to installing MySQL/Apache/PHP4 and it all seemed to be workign until i went into (OSX) System prefrences and tried to start Web shareing (turn on apache) ....it just kidna sits there saying 'statring web sharing'. should i just redo the steps online to install apache? could it be one of the other things i installed? should i try initializing it from terminal? any help would be apreciated
heh, also, i just went to terminal and typed mysql and it gave me error 2002, cant connect to local server.....is that just because apache isnt on?
ok, aparently when i try to start apache from terminal, it says the php module is garbled, and the instructions i was following warned against that, hwo do i reinstall php, can i just do it again and have it over write the garbled files?
you will have to recompile apache to get ride of that php module if you did not load it as a "plug-in".
if you did add it as a plugin then just redownload it from ?php.org ? or something and use the AddModule in the httpd.conf file.
check out oreilys Apache boook its not that bad. but the online help for apache is pretty good as is.
I recommend compiling PHP into the Apache binary and not as a loadable module. It is 'one less thing that can break' PLUS if you are going to use PHP with Apache (and MySQL) full time, this is a good thing to do. We only use a static (compiled into the kernel) method, not as a module.
ok, thanks, i think ive almost solved the problem, the instructions say do not install teh package, instead use the tar ball, what is a tar ball and how do i use it?
tarball is just a tar file.
slang i suppose.
As optimus says a tar ball is a tar file, which is a file consisting of an archive of other files. This archive file can be extracted to open and copy out all the files in it.
Read the instructions on how to use the tarball - it is most likely one that has been made absolutely, meaning you can extract it anywhere in the filesystem thus:
tar xvf /name/of/tarball
If it has been made relatively, however, you need to be in the correct directory because the files will extract wherever you run the command.
It is most likely of the former type.
By the way Neo, how does one compile PHP into the Apache binary? Also, I know not strictly a UNIX question, but do you or anyone else have any opinions on PHP Nuke as a web site strategy and any good tutorials on how to use it? (can't seem to find much in the way of tutorials at phpnuke.org).
Regards.
"Select modules to compile into Apache in the Configuration file. Uncomment lines corresponding to those optional modules you wish to include (among the AddModule lines at the bottom of the file), or add new lines corresponding to additional modules you have downloaded or written"
check out Compiling and Installing - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4
Cool Optimus, thanks. 
no problem.