OK, sorry for sounding like a technological imbecile here, but then, I am.

I downloaded Apache (which supposedly comes with php and mySQL integrated) from a website called Apache friends, and attempted to follow the installation instructions.

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-macosx.html#849

Everything seemed to go alright until I hit step 3.2.
It kept telling me that
"You need to start XAMPP as root!"
So I enabled root user in directory utility, and tried the command "sudo root" on the advice of a friend who uses Linux, and it prompted me not for the root password but for my normal password.

And of course, it still gives me the same error message ("You need to start XAMPP as root!") when I try:

/Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/mampp start

So how do I start xampp as root in the terminal shell?

Thanks much,
Luke

Any particular reason you chose not to go with MAMP as a solution over XAMPP?

http://www.mamp.info/en/mamp.html

So how do I start xampp as root in the terminal shell?

sudo /Applications/xampp/xamppfiles/mampp start

My apologies....wasn't aware that XAMPP used MAMP.:o

Any particular reason you chose not to go with MAMP as a solution over XAMPP?

http://www.mamp.info/en/mamp.htmlRegardless of whether or not XAMPP uses MAMP, I don't appear to have to be fiddling with the terminal shell, so thank you for the tip.

The point of getting an Apache server is so that I can learn php, and I now have it where it appears I can test php files.

Regardless of whether or not XAMPP uses MAMP, I don't appear to have to be fiddling with the terminal shell, so thank you for the tip.

The point of getting an Apache server is so that I can learn php, and I now have it where it appears I can test php files.

Understood, but I wasn't aware that one used the other, hence my question. I kind of got the impression that XAMPP was trying to shoehorn something to OS X that MAMP had already done. No worries.