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>PHP's biggest problem - to me - is the lack of a FastCGI-style environment where code is already running and requests are just fed to the running daemon.

Wha? PHP has plenty of frustrating problems, but that's not one of them.

Setting up FastCGI with PHP ranges from easy to fancy. If you want easy, just install VirtualMin.

Here's some guy with a custom setup:
http://voidweb.com/2010/07/the-perfect-lamp-stack-apache2-fastcgi-php-fpm-apc/

PHP with FCGI most decidedly does not go out of existence at the end of an HTTP request. The daemon stays there, ready for the next request. Also, why do you say APC is immature? Works pretty well in my experience. If you set the memory allocation right for the cache, the PHP code stays entirely (95%) in the cache.

As for going from bytecode to machine code, yeah, OK. But how's that different for most uses of Python or Ruby--for the web. There's a Python C compiler, but people don't compile their web scripts.

I agree Virtualmin GPL or Virtualmin Pro.
Fantastic community support as well as professional support from the Developers.
I started on Webmin years ago. It was so helpful I finally bought Virtualmin Pro 50 server license.

I use the latest Ubuntu 11.04 as my daily system however on a server I use Centos because of it's Long Term Support (LTS).

Ubuntu 10.04 (LTS) is a rock solid server as well.

I just prefer Centos and Scientific Linux because they are based on Redhat Enterprise binaries and I grew up on Redhat so it is just easier for me.

INSTALL a Linux DESKTOP install.
Don't do the server install because the Virtualmin install.sh script downloads, installs and configures everything using the Virtualmin repositories.

You can do it with a minimal install that gives you only a shell to start but I like to start with a minimal Desktop install for convenience.

Go to http://www.webmin.com/vinstall.html [webmin.com] and download the install.sh script.
bring up the shell terminal and execute the 2 commands they give on the above page
I just tested it yesterday on the new Centos6 and it did the setup flawlessly.

After it completes the install you'll be able to examine how they setup everything in the server.

You may want to test it on Scientific Linux as it is based on Redhat Enterprise.
http://www.scientificlinux.org/ [scientificlinux.org]

I use ubuntu 11.04 on my desktop but I use Centos5.3 on my servers and am now in the process of upgrading to Scientific Linux6 which in essence is Centos6 or Redhat Enterprise6

There is a debate about Centos kind of dragging their feet and many are switching to Scientific Linux since it is looking to be aggressively maintained.

Read this post.
http://www.virtualmin.com/node/17463#comment-80722 [virtualmin.com]
For some reason the post link in the drupal forums would not link to the one I wanted however if you search the above link thread for Posted: Wed, 2011-05-04 14:51
and read from there, it may cause you to try scientific Linux.

You have to be root for the script to install the system. Centos already has the Root user enabled.

In Ubuntu, you'll need to temporarily enable the root user, then disable it after Virtualmin installs.

I suggest Centos6 for your first test because I know the install.sh script worked OK on it. I'll assume it will work in Scientific Linux since the binaries are the same as Centos or Redhat Enterprise.

I think, Joe at Virtualmin mentioned they are going to switch from Centos to Scientific Linux for their servers.

http://www.virtualmin.com/os-support [virtualmin.com]

Virtualmin GPL Supported Systems
The automated installation script supports the following operating systems:

CentOS 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
RHEL 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
Scientific Linux 6 on i386 and x86_64
Debian 5.0 and 6.0 on i386 and amd64
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and 10.04 LTS on i386 and amd64

All Virtualmin GPL supported systems are considered "Grade A" and provide an excellent platform for virtual hosting

* * * *

Here is a little background to try and convince you to give Virtualmin a try.

You're in for a wild ride being new to LAMP servers. Running a Linux server is an addictive experience. A blessing and a curse ;-)

In 2002 on Redhat 7.3. I hired a friend, Lee Bertagnolli, to help me get my first server going. He setup the server manually.

I couldn't follow all he did at the time. I was an ultra Linux noob

I agree Virtualmin GPL or Virtualmin Pro.
Fantastic community support as well as professional support from the Developers.
I started on Webmin years ago. It was so helpful I finally bought Virtualmin Pro 50 server license.

I use the latest Ubuntu 11.04 as my daily system however on a server I use Centos because of it's Long Term Support (LTS).

Ubuntu 10.04 (LTS) is a rock solid server as well.

I just prefer Centos and Scientific Linux because they are based on Redhat Enterprise binaries and I grew up on Redhat so it is just easier for me.

INSTALL a Linux DESKTOP install.
Don't do the server install because the Virtualmin install.sh script downloads, installs and configures everything using the Virtualmin repositories.

You can do it with a minimal install that gives you only a shell to start but I like to start with a minimal Desktop install for convenience.

Go to http://www.webmin.com/vinstall.html [webmin.com] and download the install.sh script.
bring up the shell terminal and execute the 2 commands they give on the above page
I just tested it yesterday on the new Centos6 and it did the setup flawlessly.

After it completes the install you'll be able to examine how they setup everything in the server.

You may want to test it on Scientific Linux as it is based on Redhat Enterprise.
http://www.scientificlinux.org/ [scientificlinux.org]

I use ubuntu 11.04 on my desktop but I use Centos5.3 on my servers and am now in the process of upgrading to Scientific Linux6 which in essence is Centos6 or Redhat Enterprise6

There is a debate about Centos kind of dragging their feet and many are switching to Scientific Linux since it is looking to be aggressively maintained.

Read this post.
http://www.virtualmin.com/node/17463#comment-80722 [virtualmin.com]
For some reason the post link in the drupal forums would not link to the one I wanted however if you search the above link thread for Posted: Wed, 2011-05-04 14:51
and read from there, it may cause you to try scientific Linux.

You have to be root for the script to install the system. Centos already has the Root user enabled.

In Ubuntu, you'll need to temporarily enable the root user, then disable it after Virtualmin installs.

I suggest Centos6 for your first test because I know the install.sh script worked OK on it. I'll assume it will work in Scientific Linux since the binaries are the same as Centos or Redhat Enterprise.

I think, Joe at Virtualmin mentioned they are going to switch from Centos to Scientific Linux for their servers.

http://www.virtualmin.com/os-support [virtualmin.com]

Virtualmin GPL Supported Systems
The automated installation script supports the following operating systems:

CentOS 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
RHEL 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
Scientific Linux 6 on i386 and x86_64
Debian 5.0 and 6.0 on i386 and amd64
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and 10.04 LTS on i386 and amd64

All Virtualmin GPL supported systems are considered "Grade A" and provide an excellent platform for virtual hosting

* * * *

Here is a little background to try and convince you to give Virtualmin a try.

You're in for a wild ride being new to LAMP servers. Running a Linux server is an addictive experience. A blessing and a curse ;-)

In 2002 on Redhat 7.3. I hired a friend, Lee Bertagnolli, to help me get my first server going. He setup the server manually.

I couldn't follow all he did at the time. I was an ultra Linux noob

I agree with Virtualmin GPL or Virtualmin Pro.
Fantastic community support as well as professional support from the Developers.
I started on Webmin years ago. It was so helpful I finally bought Virtualmin Pro 50 server license.

I use the latest Ubuntu 11.04 as my daily system however on a server I use Centos because of it's Long Term Support (LTS).

Ubuntu 10.04 (LTS) is a rock solid server as well.

I just prefer Centos and Scientific Linux because they are based on Redhat Enterprise binaries and I grew up on Redhat so it is just easier for me.

INSTALL a Linux DESKTOP install.
Don't do the server install because the Virtualmin install.sh script downloads, installs and configures everything using the Virtualmin repositories.

You can do it with a minimal install that gives you only a shell to start but I like to start with a minimal Desktop install for convenience.

Go to http://www.webmin.com/vinstall.html and download the install.sh script.
bring up the shell terminal and execute the 2 commands they give on the above page
I just tested it yesterday on the new Centos6 and it did the setup flawlessly.

After it completes the install you'll be able to examine how they setup everything in the server.

You may want to test it on Scientific Linux as it is based on Redhat Enterprise.
http://www.scientificlinux.org/

I use ubuntu 11.04 on my desktop but I use Centos5.3 on my servers and am now in the process of upgrading to Scientific Linux6 which in essence is Centos6 or Redhat Enterprise6

There is a debate about Centos kind of dragging their feet and many are switching to Scientific Linux since it is looking to be aggressively maintained.

Read this post.
http://www.virtualmin.com/node/17463#comment-80722
For some reason the post link in the drupal forums would not link to the one I wanted however if you search the above link thread for Posted: Wed, 2011-05-04 14:51
and read from there, it may cause you to try scientific Linux.

You have to be root for the script to install the system. Centos already has the Root user enabled.

In Ubuntu, you'll need to temporarily enable the root user, then disable it after Virtualmin installs.

I suggest Centos6 for your first test because I know the install.sh script worked OK on it. I'll assume it will work in Scientific Linux since the binaries are the same as Centos or Redhat Enterprise.

I think, Joe at Virtualmin mentioned they are going to switch from Centos to Scientific Linux for their servers.

http://www.virtualmin.com/os-support

Virtualmin GPL Supported Systems
The automated installation script supports the following operating systems:

CentOS 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
RHEL 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
Scientific Linux 6 on i386 and x86_64
Debian 5.0 and 6.0 on i386 and amd64
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and 10.04 LTS on i386 and amd64

All Virtualmin GPL supported systems are considered "Grade A" and provide an excellent platform for virtual hosting

* * * *

Here is a little background to try and convince you to give Virtualmin a try.

You're in for a wild ride being new to LAMP servers. Running a Linux server is an addictive experience. A blessing and a curse ;-)

In 2002 on Redhat 7.3. I hired a friend, Lee Bertagnolli, to help me get my first server going. He setup the server manually.

I couldn't follow all he did at the time. I was an ultra Linux noob at the time.

I made a Ghost backup of the drive in case I messed it up so I could restore and be up and running again.

What really sped up my learning was the discovery of Webmin.

I agree with Virtualmin GPL or Virtualmin Pro.
Fantastic community support as well as professional support from the Developers.
I started on Webmin years ago. It was so helpful I finally bought Virtualmin Pro 50 server license.

I use the latest Ubuntu 11.04 as my daily system however on a server I use Centos because of it's Long Term Support (LTS).

Ubuntu 10.04 (LTS) is a rock solid server as well.

I just prefer Centos and Scientific Linux because they are based on Redhat Enterprise binaries and I grew up on Redhat so it is just easier for me.

INSTALL a Linux DESKTOP install.
Don't do the server install because the Virtualmin install.sh script downloads, installs and configures everything using the Virtualmin repositories.

You can do it with a minimal install that gives you only a shell to start but I like to start with a minimal Desktop install for convenience.

Go to http://www.webmin.com/vinstall.html and download the install.sh script.
bring up the shell terminal and execute the 2 commands they give on the above page
I just tested it yesterday on the new Centos6 and it did the setup flawlessly.

After it completes the install you'll be able to examine how they setup everything in the server.

You may want to test it on Scientific Linux as it is based on Redhat Enterprise.
http://www.scientificlinux.org/

I use ubuntu 11.04 on my desktop but I use Centos5.3 on my servers and am now in the process of upgrading to Scientific Linux6 which in essence is Centos6 or Redhat Enterprise6

There is a debate about Centos kind of dragging their feet and many are switching to Scientific Linux since it is looking to be aggressively maintained.

Read this post.
http://www.virtualmin.com/node/17463#comment-80722
For some reason the post link in the drupal forums would not link to the one I wanted however if you search the above link thread for Posted: Wed, 2011-05-04 14:51
and read from there, it may cause you to try scientific Linux.

You have to be root for the script to install the system. Centos already has the Root user enabled.

In Ubuntu, you'll need to temporarily enable the root user, then disable it after Virtualmin installs.

I suggest Centos6 for your first test because I know the install.sh script worked OK on it. I'll assume it will work in Scientific Linux since the binaries are the same as Centos or Redhat Enterprise.

I think, Joe at Virtualmin mentioned they are going to switch from Centos to Scientific Linux for their servers.

http://www.virtualmin.com/os-support

Virtualmin GPL Supported Systems
The automated installation script supports the following operating systems:

CentOS 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
RHEL 5 and 6 on i386 and x86_64
Scientific Linux 6 on i386 and x86_64
Debian 5.0 and 6.0 on i386 and amd64
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS and 10.04 LTS on i386 and amd64

All Virtualmin GPL supported systems are considered "Grade A" and provide an excellent platform for virtual hosting

* * * *

Here is a little background to try and convince you to give Virtualmin a try.

You're in for a wild ride being new to LAMP servers. Running a Linux server is an addictive experience. A blessing and a curse ;-)

In 2002 on Redhat 7.3. I hired a friend, Lee Bertagnolli, to help me get my first server going. He setup the server manually.

I couldn't follow all he did at the time. I was an ultra Linux noob at the time.

I made a Ghost backup of the drive in case I messed it up so I could restore and be up and running again.

What really sped up my learning was the discovery of Webmin.

not only that, it will also force control panel companies like cpanel, which serve millions of website users through web hosts to have to force users of their services to pay for SSL certs for each server they use or let their users connect to their site control panels through unencrypted connections. that will eventually drive up prices in the high to mid end hosting market. which is BAD, since majority of people host their websites in such small business hosts with $3-4 bucks a month. the overall effect that will have is yet to be seen.

This is the area that has annoyed me the most - as the author of a web hosting control panel (Virtualmin), which uses SSL for the administration interface by default. Because it generates a self-signed cert when installed, anyone accessing it with FF3 gets an error which cannot be bypassed without having to navigate through a bunch of menus and pages in Firefox's preferences.

In a way, this is a good thing as it makes man-in-the-middle attacks on the control panel harder. However, it forces the hosting provider to purchase a cert for admin.theirdomain.com, and means that all control panel access has to be via that URL, rather than admin.customersdomain.com.

Also webmin/virtualmin..

http://www.webmin.com/virtualmin.html (free/gpl)

and its commercial 'pro' version..

http://www.virtualmin.com/

You've got that right - I work on a commercial product (Virtualmin) that runs on a variety of Linux distros, and the amount of work required to properly support them all is massive. I haven't done much Windows development, but I imagine that in that market you can tell customers "you must have XP SP2 or later", and still manage to cover 80% or more of the market.

Whereas when doing Linux development, targeting just Ubuntu users would miss the other 80% who use CentOS, Fedora, Redhat Enterprise, SuSE, etc. If there were some standards that distro developers actually followed to ensure application compatability then this wouldn't be an issue ..

The updates are better done by the hosting control panel, assuming that it is one that supports automatic script installation like Virtualmin or Fantastico.

Are you looking for something like Plesk or cPanel? There don't seem to be great open source alternatives, since UI is not a strength of most non-commercially-backed open source apps. You might look at VirtualMin.

Which means it knows about how Debian does things and doesn't screw up your system, like virtualmin for instance.

Have you filed a bug? We're unaware of any issues on Debian at this time--there were some issues with rc.d entries about a year ago, but they've long been resolved. I'm not sure what else you're having trouble with. File a bug about it, and we'll get it fixed. I've been working on a version of the Virtualmin Professional installer for Debian for the past couple of weeks, and things are going reasonably well (and as far as I know, Virtualmin GPL and Webmin work fine on Debian). Anyway, let us know what goes wrong for you with Virtualmin on Debian here:

http://www.virtualmin.com/bug-tracker

You don't have to be a customer and you don't have to be using Virtualmin Professional. Bugs get fixed, regardless of the version in question.

Webmin, CPanel, Ensim, they are all deep, complex, and ugly. Webmin is the worst.

I would humbly disagree about Webmin (really, to compare to cPanel and Ensim, you need to be talking about Virtualmin).

http://www.virtualmin.com/videos/tour

http://www.virtualmin.com/demo

Virtualmin Professional also provides an application installation feature, wherein you can have Wordpress, Django, etc. installed for you. Rails, and a few other doodads, will show up in a near future release...installing software automatically isn't a difficult task, merely time-consuming to write the scripts and maintain them. We currently support 51 apps in Virtualmin, with more being added as users ask for them.

I'm not sure what bugs you about Webmin, other than the ugly default themes. Complexity is minimized by not doing things behind your back--it is a one to one mapping of configuration directives to GUI options, with a few helpers here and there to make sure you get all the right bits into the right places. It respects comments and configuration file order, it doesn't modify options it doesn't understand, it is compatible with doing things the system standard way on all popular platforms (e.g. it starts and stops services with "/etc/init.d/servicename start|stop"), and you can use a text editor to modify any configuration that Webmin makes. The same cannot be said for any other general system administration tool available, that I am aware of. Not to mention, Webmin simply has no competition in the general system administration interface market since there is no product that administers anywhere near as many services. But we're talking about virtual host administration tools, which are much more limited in scope but more ambitious in depth than Webmin, so Webmin shouldn't really be in the discussion, except to say that it makes a great base upon which to build a virtual host administration system. I just think you're doing folks a great disservice by directing them away from Webmin--regardless of what you think of it for virtual host administration (which would be an uncomfortable fit) as a general system administration tool it is unrivalled, and it is free. (Oh, and six+ million downloads gives me some confidence that not everyone agrees with your assessment.)

Anyway, to each his own, but I reckoned I'd chime in with a conflicting view (I am one of the developers of Virtualmin GPL and Professional and a long-time documenter and cheerleader for Webmin, so take it with a grain of salt, if you like). The nice thing is that Webmin and Virtualmin GPL are free, and Virtualmin Professional has an online demo. Try them and decide for yourself.

Webmin, CPanel, Ensim, they are all deep, complex, and ugly. Webmin is the worst.

I would humbly disagree about Webmin (really, to compare to cPanel and Ensim, you need to be talking about Virtualmin).

http://www.virtualmin.com/videos/tour

http://www.virtualmin.com/demo

Virtualmin Professional also provides an application installation feature, wherein you can have Wordpress, Django, etc. installed for you. Rails, and a few other doodads, will show up in a near future release...installing software automatically isn't a difficult task, merely time-consuming to write the scripts and maintain them. We currently support 51 apps in Virtualmin, with more being added as users ask for them.

I'm not sure what bugs you about Webmin, other than the ugly default themes. Complexity is minimized by not doing things behind your back--it is a one to one mapping of configuration directives to GUI options, with a few helpers here and there to make sure you get all the right bits into the right places. It respects comments and configuration file order, it doesn't modify options it doesn't understand, it is compatible with doing things the system standard way on all popular platforms (e.g. it starts and stops services with "/etc/init.d/servicename start|stop"), and you can use a text editor to modify any configuration that Webmin makes. The same cannot be said for any other general system administration tool available, that I am aware of. Not to mention, Webmin simply has no competition in the general system administration interface market since there is no product that administers anywhere near as many services. But we're talking about virtual host administration tools, which are much more limited in scope but more ambitious in depth than Webmin, so Webmin shouldn't really be in the discussion, except to say that it makes a great base upon which to build a virtual host administration system. I just think you're doing folks a great disservice by directing them away from Webmin--regardless of what you think of it for virtual host administration (which would be an uncomfortable fit) as a general system administration tool it is unrivalled, and it is free. (Oh, and six+ million downloads gives me some confidence that not everyone agrees with your assessment.)

Anyway, to each his own, but I reckoned I'd chime in with a conflicting view (I am one of the developers of Virtualmin GPL and Professional and a long-time documenter and cheerleader for Webmin, so take it with a grain of salt, if you like). The nice thing is that Webmin and Virtualmin GPL are free, and Virtualmin Professional has an online demo. Try them and decide for yourself.

Someone else mentioned it in passing, but since I had a hand in making it happen and I think it's very nice, I'll mention Virtualmin.

Virtualmin.com

It's free (as in beer and speech), integrates cleanly with Webmin and Usermin for system administration and user level access to email, spamassassin configuration, etc.

It doesn't do everything that all of the control panels do, but none of them can do everything that Webmin/Usermin/Virtualmin can do either, so it all comes out in the wash. It has the benefit of being easily modified without violating any licenses and is very polite to the underlying OS and services. Unlike pretty much all of the other products in this space (except for the Positive Software CP+ product that is based off of Virtualmin and Webmin) it does not screw up the configuration files, or require you to do all of the configuration of the services from within the GUI. You can switch between vi or emacs and Virtualmin without fear of losing comments or configuration file order.

It has a couple of long-term commercial sponsors, including my company (Swell Technology) and the previously mentioned Positive Software, so it gets consistent developer attention and fast bug fixes. And like Webmin on top of which it runs, it is easily themeable, provides online help features, and is internationalized with many translations.

It may not be perfect for every purpose today, but it gets better all the time and is already in use at a lot of ISPs and hosting providers, as well as ASPs. Worth a look, at least. You may find that with some customizations (which you can do, or you can hire Jamie or someone else to do) Virtualmin can provide a better fit for less money over the long term than any of the proprietary options.

And since it is free, it will cost you nothing but a few minutes or hours to give it a try.