ports have made me lazy

[Michael Powell]

Vince Sabio wrote:

> I need to install zlib (not zlibc), and AFACT it is not included in
> ports. When I look at the zlib web site, I see that there are several
> (not a lot, but several) dependencies for the installation -- and I
> think, "OH NO, NOT DEPENDENCIES!" Or something like that.
> 
> I blame it on ports. They have made me lazy. I am a victim. ;-)
> 
> Anyway, and more to the point, am I missing something? Is zlib really
> not included in ports? If not, is there an automated/semi-automated
> means of installing it -- or am I back to the old days of installing
> dependencies manually?

Why not use the one that came with the system? /lib/libz.so.4 You won't be 
happy if you manage to get two of them installed; use the one already 
present in the system by default.
 
> (I have had two servers go toes up in three days, so if I've missed
> the obvious here, well, it wouldn't surprise me. Just administer clue
> in the standard manner, and I'll get with the program.)

This is different. If by some odd chance you are talking about this in 
php.ini: zlib.output_handler = /lib/libz.so.4 - I have noticed a problem a 
time or two in the past with certain PHP apps. I run with mod_deflate also 
and sometimes PHP apps balk at running with both. The advantage of using 
libz in php.ini is it compresses the PHP output stream, while mod_deflate is 
only good for static content.

The above is kind of confusing, but wrt PHP there can be a difficulty if the 
app has written in it's own zlib compression routines internally.  You can't 
do the compression in PHP twice.  

On apps where I have experienced problems, it was either turn off libz 
compression in php.ini or disable the .gz compression setting in the app's 
setup/configuration utility. I always opted for the latter, as this would 
maintain the ability for other apps in a default fashion. You'll know if 
this problem is present if when you try and access a PHP page you either get 
a page full of garbage or the server errors/crashes with a 500 server error.

Just to be thorough, there is also a php5-zlib extension, which the 
construction of some apps may require.

-Mike