Default Apache / PHP or Precompiled Apache 2 + PHP 5?

Question

I'd really appreciate any insight into how I (n00b) can use the default Apache configuration to learn PHP (where is it?) or is setting up another Apache/PHP instance in /usr/local/ safe?
This is the tutorial I would follow if it is safe to upgrade to PHP5 / Apache 2:
http://www.entropy.ch/blog/2006/05/12/Universal-Binary-Apache-2-configure-Line.h tml
http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/php/
So far, I've cd /usr/local
curl -s http://www2.entropy.ch/download/apache2-2.2.3-macosx-universal.tar.gz | sudo tar -xzvf -
Do I need to remove the above to prevent conflicts with OSX's default apache? I don't even know where to find the default install or where to go from here.
Ullman's PHP&MySQL book is sitting in front of me waiting to be explored once I can get this installation completed, so any direction is MUCH appreciated

Answer 1

Thanks again Charlie!
You're welcome.
I did download the Apache2 version of PHP5 - so i'm assuming i'd need to remove both and redownload the correct version?
Yeah, do that first. You should be able to just re-run the correct PHP5 installer. If that doesn't work, you can delete the old install with this Terminal command:
<pre class="command">sudo rm -Rf /usr/local/php5</pre>By the way, if you want to delete the Apache 2 installation, the command would be:
<pre class="command">sudo rm -Rf /usr/local/apache2</pre>When you're typing those commands, be very careful not to have any spaces in the paths. That could result in accidentally erasing more than you'd intended.
Here's the result of httpd -V you requested:
Server version: Apache/1.3.33 (Darwin)
Okay, so at least the command line is still seeing the stock Apache server. I think you should be fine.
And finally the result for sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl start:
Processing config directory: /private/etc/httpd/users/*.conf
Processing config file: /private/etc/httpd/users/+entropy-php.conf
Syntax error on line 8 of /private/etc/httpd/users/+entropy-php.conf:
Cannot load /usr/local/php5/libphp5.so into server: (reason unknown)
/usr/sbin/apachectl start: httpd could not be started
I suspect that the error there is just because the PHP5 module is for Apache 2 and that's why it can't be loaded. Once you install the correct PHP5, that message is likely to go away.
A couple quick notes on Apache. First, if you succeed in starting it from the command line, it's possible that the Sharing preferences won't show that it's running. I'm not sure how that works under Tiger, but it used to be that it didn't always reflect the true state of the Apache server if it was stopped or started using the command line.
Second, if you want to use the Sharing preference to stop and start it, you can always look at the results using the Console application. It's in your utilities folder, and the logs you're looking for are in the /var/www/httpd folder. The error log is especially helpful.
Finally, I'm going to be kind busy next few days, so if you post and don't get a response, I'm not ignoring you, and I'll get back when I can...
best,
charlie