Comment 21 for bug 89364

On 8/27/07, Owen <email address hidden> wrote:
> Hi Christoph,
>
> The problem is not about the installer - it's about his customer...
> Usually, the "it works" page is left up by the ISP that owns the server
> hardware. The customer, who owns the domain, comes along and thinks
> apache has hijacked his site. Hence he flames apache...
>
> The point is that you are not writing for developers. You are writing
> for technically incompetent web-site owners.
>
> --
> Apache2 default site contains only the words "It works!"
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/89364
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
> Server Team, which is a bug contact for apache2 in ubuntu.
>
There are so many issues in running a shared web server that the
default web page falls into insignificance. Users sharing a web server
need user space and an apache stanza to point to that web space.
Operators of a shared web server have many choices all of them "bad".

Most of the "bad" choices involve management of apache, dns, mail,
database and choose to do so with a "virtual" environment. Trying to
mitigate the difficulty of managing accounts in a shared environment
is a noble and difficult task.

Most users of shared servers will have one of more domains they want
served. Fail over requires control of DNS. Thus for each user, for
each domain, he will need a DNS zone and an apache stanza.

I have despaired of any workable solution in providing incoming mail
service for those domains and have outsourced all of that to Google.
Running a mail server in today's environment is a career not a
project.

The database issue is most easily handled by creating per user
databases in MySQL. Easy to arrange for "real" users, less so for
"virtual" users. The most nagging consequence is that users will have
to leave database passwords lying around in clear text. Without some
sort of UID/GID scheme all users have access to each other's
passwords.

So by all means, a checklist of the work to be done in setting up
apache virtual servers would not be a bad thing. Implying that is all
that is required would be would be.

Jim Tarvid