Posted by hansBKK on 04/01/07 11:24

Upfront disclaimer - I am a relative newbie, just starting out learning
about PHP, mostly by researching, installing and playing with different
scripts. I am looking for a host that will provide the right environment
for this - running a wide variety of PHP applications. I realise that
security is also important, but for now flexibility is more important to
me.

Note that I'm **not** looking for people to recommend hosting companies,
I have a good shortlist already. I'm looking for help in choosing
between these, based on the configuration of their server environment.

I would greatly appreciate your pointing out where my questions reveal
my ignorance; if possible, help me fix up the questions and explain
where I've gone wrong.


Here is my understanding of these issues so far (assuming Linux/Apache):

Running mod_php is less restrictive and therefore more flexible, and
faster than running as CGI.

More importantly, I've been told that mod_rewrite REQUIRES php running
as a module, so on a host running CGI, I CANNOT get permalinks, pretty
URLs, etc. Is this true?

If so, then I definitely want a host running php as a module, even with
the insecurity of 777/666 permissions.

I should also ask the potential hosting services about my ability to put
php configuration directives in custom .htaccess files (and not custom
php.ini files, correct?)

If this is the case, I assuem it becomes relevant to PHP what the
server's AllowOverride is set to?

I also understand that I should avoid choosing a host running php in
safe mode.

Thanks in advance for your taking the time to read this, and especially
to those who are willing to clarify these issues.

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