question on <?php and $HTTP_POST_VARS (possibly unrelated)

We are setting up a new server with the Apache config described at the end of the email and PHP 4.2.2, and I came across some issues. I took a site I built on another server and only ever used <? to designate my php and never ever used $HTTP_POST_VARS (or GET), nor did I refer to session variables as anything but $sessionvar. In fact, a package I downloaded had all passed variables referred to with $HTTP_GET_VARS['foo'] and it didn't work. I had to take that out and refer to it only as $foo. On this new server, my code broke. The guy who set up the server said the <? needed to be changed to <?php, so he grep-ed it and changed those. Then I found that variables weren't being passed to other pages, but they did once I added $HTTP_GET_VARS. I thought this was a configuration thing in Apache, or PHP at least. I also thought <?php was the "old" way and you didn't need that anymore. Am I wrong? Is it possible to easily allow this server to accept "naked" variables and <? only? Thanks for your help. -jason Server version: Apache/2.0.40 Server compiled with.... -D APACHE_MPM_DIR="server/mpm/prefork" -D APR_HAS_SENDFILE -D APR_HAS_MMAP -D APR_HAVE_IPV6 -D APR_USE_SYSVSEM_SERIALIZE -D APR_USE_PTHREAD_SERIALIZE -D SINGLE_LISTEN_UNSERIALIZED_ACCEPT -D APR_HAS_OTHER_CHILD -D AP_HAVE_RELIABLE_PIPED_LOGS -D HTTPD_ROOT="/etc/httpd" -D SUEXEC_BIN="/usr/sbin/suexec" -D DEFAULT_PIDLOG="logs/httpd.pid" -D DEFAULT_SCOREBOARD="logs/apache_runtime_status" -D DEFAULT_LOCKFILE="logs/accept.lock" -D DEFAULT_ERRORLOG="logs/error_log" -D AP_TYPES_CONFIG_FILE="conf/mime.types" -D SERVER_CONFIG_FILE="conf/httpd.conf"