I have to confess that after spending a fruitless couple of hours trying to install either phpmyadmin or mysqladmin I gave up and swithched the machine off.
I then installed php on my regular Windows XP machine and was up and running in minutes, and that’s including setting permissions for the relvant files/folders.
I would have to say that I’m smart enough to earn a living doing everything from hardware through networks to software development, and it’s not that I think configuring Linux with what I need is impossible, it just will take far more time than I am willing to give it. I have to confess that if I was planning on spending good money on purchasing a *nix web server I would do what Jon Honeyball (PC Pro) does – get a Mac server running OSX. I don’t believe that the particular aggregation of bits yet comprises a complete quality package.
I would love to be able to install a fresh copy of Fedora, Red Hat, Suse, Mandrake, Debian, Slackware and then be able to download packages such as MySQL or php and install them without cryptic dependency messages. Surely it’s not beyond the programmers to ensure that all the libraries needed are inlcuded in the download, or at least a reference to a valid link to the package on the web.
In this busy world of IT I don’t have the time to take weeks out searching for ad hoc comments on other peoples’ experiences in order to get MySQL or php up and running. In the end it is Linux that loses out to the poor way in which the community organises itself and its products. Most IT users would rather pay something for a reduction in the amount of time spent tearing out our hair trying to solve the myriad of silly niggles that prevent us getting on with just using Linux.
This all leaves me with a distinct sense of disappointment. I would love to be able to really use Linux. After all, I’ve used DR-DOS, Gem, OS/2 in their time, yet I have to confess that Apple is looking more and more as if it will steal not only the ‘Cool’ crown, but also the ‘Valid Alternative’ crown from the competition.
