Usually, I try to have minimalistic configuration of PHP on my computer to make sure whatever i write is fairly portable. The PHP4 installation that comes with OS X Tiger falls under such classification. So I had the default. But I had to make the aforementioned module work. It was not for hobby - it was work, so I had to upgrade my PHP, ASAP. Most importantly I needed some PHP modules like mhash and GD that do not come with the base installation.
Recompiling PHP is a pain. No offense but especially so on a Mac (at least for me) since Mac has non-standard Unix layout and it is not an orthodox Unix system, anyway.
That's where Marc Liyanage's wonderful package saved my day - Enthropy installer upgraded my PHP to ver 5 with a wealth of modules installed (all that I needed) and did so in Universal binary. Furthermore, it did not ruine my existing Apache installation (I had to back up config and restore but that's it).
Thanks, Marc - you really made my day! Your package rocks.
