LAMP (Linux + Apache + Mysql + perl/php/python/put your favorite scripting language here) is getting to be rock solid. Even though my one-step compile script is based on specific versions of each of the components, those components have hardly changed since the last script update:

  • Apache 1.3.31
  • mod_perl 1.29
  • openssl 09.7d
  • mod_ssl 2.8.19-1.3.31
  • PHP 4.3.8
  • mysql 4.0.21
  • mm 1.3.0
  • This is awesome, it’s an indication that the components are really mature and stable. There are newer versions available of some of them (Apache 2.0, PHP 5.0, etc.) but the currently supported stable versions (Apache 1.3, PHP 4, etc.) are very very good things (TM). So without further ado, check it out, the one-step Apache script. If you’ve never compiled Apache from source before, it’s a great jump-start. Dump it into an empty directory, run it, and watch it fill up with goodies. Warning: check out the script first, it will actually install apache into /usr/local/apache (and other components too in other places) without asking you, if it gets far enough – so MAKE SURE THAT’S WHAT YOU WANT. The script assumes you have mysql and perl installed already, but not Apache. It also tweaks the build to target an Athlon architecture, which you can turn off in the script. As a final note, the PHP configuration in the script expects mcrypt and mhash to be installed. You should have them installed, or remove them from the PHP configure line. Have fun!


    Apache One-Step Compile Script
    (continued…)

    I have finally gotten cyrus imap and sieve up and limping along. I don’t even want to begin to document the pain it was to set up… the only thing I’ll say is… USE A PRE-COMPILED CYRUS IMAP PACKAGE if possible – after struggling along for weeks, the Fedora Core 2 RPM installed in seconds with zero problems. Fedora Tracker is da bomb. My cyrus setup isn’t perfect yet… but I can pull up my email in 4 seconds instead of 300 now…

    Bottom line: if you want an email account on thedigitalmachine.com, now is the time to ask. :>

    With Red Hat dropping support for Red Hat Linux (duh!), it was only a matter of time before I made a move to a new distro – when it comes to running an internet-exposed server, a little guy like me has no choice – I HAVE to run an up-to-date auto-patched distro. With cyrus playing the role of the proverbial straw, I decided to upgrade (sidegrade?) to Fedora. Read on for all the gory details – just kidding, it’s not that bad. In fact, in retrospect, yum made it downright smooth.

    (continued…)

    Google‘s got a new format! I’ve updated my google results scraper that formats Google results for use in a sidebar frame. Here’s the code if you want to try it at home.

    When you display simple text in a browser, the browser will wrap the text at the edge of the page. You get maximum usage of your screen. With standard HTML, you can’t get the same behavior for a series of tables – you can choose to align them next to each other with “align=left” (and they’ll head right off the right edge of the page), or you can use default behavior, in which each subsequent table is displayed below the previous (and you waste the right side of the page).

    CSS is groovy, if not a bit cryptic at times. In this case, it solves the problem perfectly – just put a [DIV] tag around each table, and set up the DIV style with [float:left]. Check out the result on my portal page. More CSS adventures to come, I’m sure…