Re: PHP 4.0 Bug #5659: Installation instruction

> Date: 18 Jul 2000 12:21:32 -0000 > > From: fredrik@golfsidan.com > Operating system: win95 win 98 winNT > PHP version: 4.0 Release Candidate 2 > PHP Bug Type: Installation problem > Bug description: Installation instruction > > Why is it so difficult to install php? > If you guys take a look at mailing lists and forums about php, you > will find that 95% of the problems refers to the installation!! > > You want people to use PHP, dont you? > > So please do something about it! > > It took me 5 minutes to get my PWS running on Win 95 and > I could start programming ASP. > Looks like PHP only gone be a dream..... Yes, PHP can be difficult to install. In fact, I've been working on 4.X for months now and have installed it I don't know how many times. Is this because I love suffering? No. It's because I've used PHP since its PHP/FI days and firmly believe in its long term importance and utility for Web development. PHP 4 is new, and hence unstable. It's development is a collaborative undertaking involving volunteers, most of whom have other obligations in life. When you install and use such a system you have to realize you are in effect joining the group of developers assistant; it is incumbent upon you to try to feed back to them the problems you have in an effort to improved both the code and documentation so that the system becomes easier to install, and more stable in operation. If your primary concern is establishing a quick and stable production system, then PHP3/PWS/ASP/whatever may be the solution (for you, and for now). This is not to say that PHP 4 will remain difficult to install and use -- it will settle down with time. If you had been able to download ASP at a comparable time in its development history (which you could not, because it was a *closed* development process) you would have been every bit as dismayed. The Open Source software development process invites you to become a collaborator, not just a consumer. Good luck with your web development efforts, and I hope you end up using and enjoying PHP 4 at a moment in time appropriate to you... Cheerio, Rick Rodgers