MAMP (an Apple post)

Well, I now have a Mac OS X, Apache, mySQL, and PHP development environment. Took me all of five to ten minutes to set up... and most of that was running the install package for mySQL (and that was no harder than clicking "continue" a couple of times and rebooting). PHP and Apache come with Mac OS X, I just had to enable web sharing in the System Preferences to start Apache and uncomment four lines in httpd.conf to enable PHP.

It may not be the most highly configured and customized setup of all time, but holy carp, that was ridiculously easy. Anybody out there who's striving to make "usable" Linux/*nix desktop environments or what have you is really just wasting their time. Apple's done it, folks. I've got all the power and control I want from a terminal shell, and all the ease of use of a time-tested windowed environment all in one.

(I will grant that Apple is not totally open and "free" but for people who want something that just works and is useful, Apple's the only viable alternative for probably the next 10 years.)

((Additionally, I will also admit that it took me longer than the 5-10 minutes to do the needed research to figure out how to get things installed. I'm now trying to figure out how to link PHP and mySQL together and use phpMyAdmin to administer everything. All the Googled documentation for installing *AMP on Mac Os X is 3-5 years out of date, including Apple's own documents. This is an extremely common failing with open source stuff, and it seriously contributes to the impression that open source products are unprofessional hackjobs. How hard is it to write an accurate, up to date page of text? It would have saved me maybe two hours. I could write it in five minutes now that I know what to do, but would anyone read it or care?))

Apache, mySQL, PHP on Mac OS X 10.6.x Install Procedure

Go to System Preferences -> Sharing and check "Web Sharing" (turns on Apache)

Edit httpd.conf in /etc/apache2/ and uncomment (remove # in front of): LoadModule php5_module

Create a text file in /Sites with a .php extension containing the line: <?php phpinfo(); ?>

Open http://localhost/~/.php and confirm PHP is running

Download the latest mysql-*-x86*.dmg (Get the one ending in 64 if you are running a 64-bit Mac)
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

Mount it

Run mysql-*-x86*.pkg

Run MySQLStartupItem.pkg

Add the preference pane

Reboot (may have to reboot twice)

Optional: open Terminal (in Utilities), use emacs or vi to edit the file .profile and add this line at the end:
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH"

Follow additional instructions here: http://maestric.com/doc/mac/apache_php_mysql_snow_leopard
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You might also want to consider using MAMP:
http://www.mamp.info/en/mamp/index.html

Feeling Stupid

I shouldn't feel stupid about this. But I do, all the same.

I played Rock Band for the first time last weekend. I REALLY got into it. The vocal part, I was kinda "eh", and I did well with the bass - but then I got onto the drums and... and well, I really want to play drums now. All the time. I generally sucked at it (my perception), I was pulling as low as 85% on some of the Easy songs, but some of them I did pretty good with, and now I want to do better and maybe even play drums for reals. For a couple of fleeting, golden moments, I actually felt like I had a beat and my body was really into it. The rest of it I was all hitting the kick at the wrong times and missing stuff, but I WAS FEELING IT MAN.

So, um. I feel a little goofy about suddenly having the urge to play real drums due to playing fake ones in a rythym game.