Here’s an equation for you:

Setting up PHP 5 on Dreamhost + How I configured a custom php5 build on my Dreamhost account - Installing PHP5 + CR Puzzles = A Happy Me

That only took forever. The latest version of PHP is 5.2.0 and I’m running 5.0.3, but that’s okay. The funny thing is, I don’t even remember why I wanted a custom PHP install. I guess it was so I could mess with the restrictions on uploads and processing time, since those didn’t seem to be affected by changes to .htaccess. But I also kind of like running independently. Of course I’ll probably never be able to upgrade, but at least now if I decide I don’t like it I can just add some #’s in my .htaccess and fall back on the Dreamhost PHP installation anytime.

I finally decided that the increase in 500 errors after my deletion of php.cgi had to do with Dreamhost switching their Apache servers, or something like that, rather than their installation being somehow weaker than my custom one was. But still, I am happy to run it myself, so I can tweak stuff. At least I hope I can, or this was all for nothing!

Hopefully this will be the last ultra-techie post for a little while, I imagine some of my readers are starting to get bored!