NYCPHP Meetup

[lists at nopersonal.info]

Okay, one last batch of questions then I'll leave you guys alone for
another six months. ;-)

I recently set up my first LAMP stack using Ubuntu--it seemed like the
easiest option, and so far I love it. From now on this will be my local
testing server.

I've installed OpenSSH so I can practice "talking" to Linux & MySQL via
the command line from my primary computer. I intend to perhaps also
install up some sort of FTP & mail server, if for no other reason than
to understand how they work on the other end.

Aside from occasional shell access to remote servers and setting up cron
jobs I'm a total Linux noob, so this is a whole new world for me. I've
dealt with Apache .conf files a bit, and also with php.ini files. Not so
much with MySQL .cnf files.

At present, aside form having set passwords I'm still using the default
config files that were installed with Apache 2.2.11, PHP 5.26, MySQL
5.0.75, and phpMyAdmin 3.1.2. I'd like to turn off things that are
commonly disabled in shared hosting environments so that I don't
inadvertently use something that's not going to work on a production
server over which I have little or no control.

Do any of you have recommendations on configuration settings to use?

Which packages/extensions/modules should be installed/enabled?

Should I go ahead and turn off error reporting and enable it via my
scripts, or should I leave it on all the time? If I should leave it on,
at what level should I set it? E_ALL?

Are there any other settings or extensions that might be helpful someone
like me who's still prone to making rookie mistakes?

Would it be a good idea to use one php.ini file while I'm writing &
debugging my code, and then a second one for testing immediately prior
to moving to a production server? If so, how should they differ?

Would this be a good time to learn how to use CVS or Subversion?

As always, any advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Bev