Comments on the document 'Installing mod_perl 2.0'

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Hello,

I have just used the document 'Installing mod_perl 2.0' (from 
http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/user/install/install.html#Dynamic_mod_perl) 
and would like to offer a few comments. As will no doubt become clear I 
am a novice at the Linux game, and so I hope my comments will be taken 
as pointers to make things a little clearer to people such as me, for 
whom installation of software under Linux can be a confusing process. =)

a) Under the 'Dynamic mod_perl' section, I think it would be a good idea 
to clearly explain why you might want to choose this option over 'Static 
mod_perl'. I guess most people with a pre-existing Apache installation 
would/should be using this option exclusively (because then Apache loads 
it as a 'Dynamic Shared Object'?)

b) In the same section, and the line '% perl Makefile.PL 
MP_INST_APACHE2=1 MP_APXS=/path/to/apxs \
     MP_APR_CONFIG=/another/path/to/apr-config <other options>', what 
does the '\' (after 'to/apxs') signify? (This is probably a very dumb 
question!)

c) Also in this section, in the line '  % perl Makefile.PL 
MP_INST_APACHE2=1 MP_AP_PREFIX=$HOME/httpd/prefork' I think it is 
essential to clearly explain what the meaning of '$HOME/httpd/prefork' 
is intended to be. From my installation, it seems that this is the 
actually the directory under which the Apache 2.0 installation places 
all its files and is the same as that specified during the Apache 
installation process as the --prefix= option. In my case, as I did a 
'default' Apache install, this was '/usr/local/apache2/' - but it wasn't 
very clear that I should have set it to that.

d) Another useful tip - that may seem a bit stupid, but which I found 
useful - was to check after completing the installation process that the 
'modules' directory under '/usr/local/apache2' (or whatever) contained 
the file 'mod_perl.so'. In my first few attempts at installation this 
was useful to see if things had actually been installed in the right place.

e) Lastly, it might be good to repeat at the end your advice given in 
another document about configuring the Apache 2.0 httpd.conf file to 
enable Apache to operate with mod_perl.

Regards,

Chris Carter