How can I install Perl DBI on Mac OS X so Apache can find it?

Great answer, broadcast. Having done this too many times, I can give you some tips:

Note. I am apparently limited to one link in the post, so I had to remove all my annotations. Luckily there is Delicious where I saved them all with the stackoverflowmacports tag . Anywhere below where I removed the link matching Stack Overflow, a ridiculous anti-spam measure, I marked it with (*) .

• If a reliable working development environment is important to you, always rely on the bundled LITTLE Mac OS X software. I love Apple, but they have absolutely no qualms about breaking the custom settings of their software as often as possible.

• If # 1 sounds like what you need to do, Macports is a GREAT choice . I used to use Fink, but they got lost in the dust a long time ago in terms of ease of use and the range of software available. The easiest way to install macports is via the binary package install method (*)

• As Ether mentions, when you have everything set up correctly, the Macports provided MySQL, PHP and Apache work well without the intervention of system counterparts. Most of them have to do with the PATH setting, but all these details are handled by the package installers after the flight script (*)

• Once you're on the Macports train, it should be the first place you look for any software. port search
  
  and port info
  
  are constant companions. They currently have 6863 ports (*) that MOST covers your bases.

• Whenever you need to go outside the Macports realm to find something, set it to /usr/local
  
  . This part of the file system hierarchy is yours. Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security, and assume that since Macports doesn't have what you install, it's okay to put it in /opt/local
  
  , because invariably this software will install some dependency that will also be dependent on some. a piece of Macports software down the line, and Macports won't let you install a port if any of its files overwrite an existing file not managed by Macports (unless you force it, which always doesn't work well)

• If you are working with Perl, and using the Macports version, you are bound to find yourself in a situation. Macports doesn't have the one CPAN module you're looking for. (And, indeed, given that there are two and a half billion CPAN modules, who can blame them?) This will happen often enough that you will most likely get tired of the manual install (*) ( perl Makefile.PL; make; make test; sudo make install; cha; cha; cha
  
  ) method and take a long time for the usability you are used to in Macports.

  If so, you can absolutely use the cpan (*) , CPANPLUS (*) or cpanminus (*) utility for all your installation needs. Just make sure to do the necessary tweaks in your selection tool's setup so that it instructs it to install your modules in / usr / local / lib / perl 5, ignoring the /opt/local/bin/perl
  
  insistence that modules come in /opt/local/lib/perl5
  
  . You can set an environment variable PERL5LIB
  
  in your shell init script to view further /usr/local/lib/perl5
  
  for modules. Just take the @INC
  
  output from perl -V
  
  and tie it to the end ...

• And finally ... Using system daily init scripts or third party programs such as Anacron (*) or MacPorts Notifier (*) (both available through MacPorts), be sure to update your software frequently . You don't have a parent Apple protecting you with software updates for your installed Macports software that has as many bugs and security vulnerabilities as Apple's packages themselves.

  By updating frequently, you will be ahead of the villains and by automating this the updates will actually happen and you won't end up like I did in the past with a full weekend transition because you had a mountain of legacy ports to update. Note. The macros handle their updates, and if they fail at any point, your current version continues to work. Apple may learn a few of them, I tell you ...

So that's all I can think of. Hope the above tutorials help you quickly and save you all the time, effort, and stress I have experienced in recent years while studying it. I'd say it's even better than the alternative: hate Apple because they break all your nice stuff ... :-)