Table of Contents
MPN, being an open source portal, also uses other open source as its foundation. These are freely available to the public under the GNU license, however specific restrictions may apply. This version of MPN (1.8.8)has the following minimum software requirements.
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"The Apache Project is a collaborative software development effort aimed at creating a robust, commercial-grade, featureful, and freely-available source code implementation of an HTTP (Web) server. The project is jointly managed by a group of volunteers located around the world, using the Internet and the Web to communicate, plan, and develop the server and its related documentation. These volunteers are known as the Apache Group. In addition, hundreds of users have contributed ideas, code, and documentation to the project. This file is intended to briefly describe the history of the Apache Group and recognize the many contributors." [1]
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"MySQL is a database management system.
A database is a structured collection of data. It may be anything from a simple shopping list to a picture gallery or the vast amounts of information in a corporate network. To add, access, and process data stored in a computer database, you need a database management system such as MySQL Server. Since computers are very good at handling large amounts of data, database management plays a central role in computing, as stand-alone utilities, or as parts of other applications.
MySQL is a relational database management system.
A relational database stores data in separate tables rather than putting all the data in one big storeroom. This adds speed and flexibility. The tables are linked by defined relations making it possible to combine data from several tables on request. The SQL part of "MySQL" stands for "Structured Query Language" - the most common standardized language used to access databases..." [2]
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"PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language. Much of its syntax is borrowed from C, Java and Perl with a couple of unique PHP-specific features thrown in. The goal of the language is to allow web developers to write dynamically generated pages quickly." [3]
Naturally, you will need to either have access to an ISP (Internet Service Provider) that supports a minimum of PHP and MySQL, or you will need to host your own web server. This manual does not cover setting up your own host server. If you need information on how to do this, please visit the above sites.
[1] About Apache HTTP Server Project. Apache Software Foundation.
19 Feb 2002 httpd.apache.org/ABOUT_APACHE.html
[2] What is MySQL? MySQL AB.
19 Feb 2002 www.mysql.com/products/what_is_mysql.html
[3] PHP Manual Chapter 43: General Information. The PHP Group.
19 Feb 2002 /www.php.net/manual/en/faq.general.php