mysql, php, apache??

hi,

I'm new to php and i was wondering where i can find (mysql, php, apache)[win32] so that i can practice and learn php at home without having to be constantly logged on to the internet? The only copy i can find of mysql for windows is the one that you have to pay for. Does anyone know where i can find the "free" one? IS apache available for windows95?

Since im a student, and always broke, im looking for the free way into this. I can't pay huge amounts to money to learn php.... :/
Any help would be appreiciated


Cisk

Check www.apache.org for the binaries of apache for Win32.

There is no "Free" Win32 version of MySQL. Sorry. The only thing you can download is the 3.21 binary as a 30 day trial.

You can have Linux in a partition on your Winblows box and install the Linux versions of PHP, MySQL and Apache there. Also, should grab a copy of NS for Linux so you can browse at the same time. I can't tell you how to do the partition thing as I have Linux and Win95 on seperate boxes, networked. Best development solution I know of. Can use the Win Clients so I know how 99% of the world is looking at the page, and using the open source stuff with the exact config my host uses makes development a breeze.

Even though you're a "poor student" you might be able to do this solution as well. Biggest expense for the extra system would be a monitor, and if you expect to use a lot of DBs I'd recommend a healthy size drive as well (at any rate no less than 2.1G). But the rest should be cheap. A 486dx66 is fast enough for this purpose and I use 48 MB (though I've heard people use as little as 16MB for similar purposes w/o complaint). A couple of $10 networking cards, a x-over cable and you are in business URL

A big ditto on the above. You can get a 486 for free these days if you know where to look. Ask everyone you know who works in a business, and somewhere you will find people throwing them away, even low-end Pentiums.

I would suggest RedHat Linux or Mandrake Linux (same as Redhat but optimized for pentiums) for ease of install. You can get a Linux CD for as cheap as 1.99 at www.cheapbytes.com

I have done all of the above, and I recommend greatly the following page to assist you in seting up PHP, MySQL and Apache: http://www.sfu.ca/~yzhang/linux/webdb/toc.html

I promise it will be frustrating at times, but nothing compares to the feeling you get when it DOES come together. Read all your HowTos.