[sclug] installing Debian on HP Proliant ML110 G3

[John Barron]

On Saturday 19 August 2006 21:27, Rachel wrote:
> On 19 Aug 2006, at 19:38, John Barron wrote:
> > Is it worth trying Ubuntu on it, if that will install successfully?
> > Admittedly
> > that's better known as a desktop distribution, however it is
> > essentially
> > Debian at heart, and AIUI there is a 'server install' option which
> > will give
> > you a non-GUI basic/minimal system to which you can add what you
> > require with
> > apt-get.
>
> I've tried ubuntu - which installs fine, however I am getting the
> same error trying to install Apache:
>
> dpkg: error processing apache (--configure)
> subprocess post-installation script returned error exit status 10
> Errors were encountered while processing:apache
> E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
>

hmm.., concur, yes I get a similar error report trying to install Apache 1.3 
on my kubuntu system. I notice that it was trying to pull in a mixture of 
apache 1.3 and apache 2 packages, so perhaps that's not very healthy, and 
apache 2 installs happily.

> This install is not running any version of Apache so I guess that
> wasn't the reason it was failing with Debian Testing.
>

Looks incredibly similar, however. When it comes to computers I dislike 
guessing, mostly I get burnt when I do that.

> The reason I need Apache 1.3 rather than 2 is that, as a web
> developer, I've yet to encounter a live server running Apache 2 and
> I'd rather keep our dev environment similar to the boxes we go live
> on. When I'm finding that most hosting services are running Apache 2
> we'll upgrade.

Well... as others are saying, apache 1.3 has become legacy and therefore you 
need to be moving to apache 2.  As a professional software developer myself, 
I understand the need to support what your customers are using, and do your 
development in a similar environment. 

On the other hand, when it comes to these things you need to be making an 
active decision about what version of infrastructure you are going to 
officially support. Proprietary software developers are usually pretty harsh 
on the subject, and it's one aspect I agree with; be firm and up-front about 
what environments your development is or is not supported and warranted for, 
and publish in advance when official support for legacy environments (e.g. 
apache 1.3!) will be discontinued.

After that date then your official advice should be that running unsupported 
infrastructure is just that, unsupported and at the customer's own risk. By 
all means fix any issues that arise if they can't/won't/don't upgrade - but 
*only* on a strictly time & materials basis according to what it actually 
takes to fix. 

When exactly you make the cut-off is a commercial decision according to your 
circumstances - but it's easier if you do it ahead of time and with advance 
notice, and you may find customers actually appreciate the honesty. If you 
wait till you're forced because the rest of the world has moved on in the 
meantime, then it's just horrible to deal with.

best of luck with it, anyway
John