What should I know before messing with Apache?
 

I am running Mandrake 9.1 and I want to set up Apache so I can view pages with server side includes on my local hard drive.

With instructions in hand (http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/install.html) I am about to start. However, before I get myself into trouble or mess things up I thought it wise to ask the more learned out here if they have any advice or warnings before I plunge into this uncharted territory.

Setting up Apache is completely new territory for me. Any timely comments about how to proceed or what to watch out for would be much appreciated. Also, it might save me from coming bawling back here when I muck everything up on myself.

I didn't have many problems. I had to figure out how to start the server... you have to su - (with the dash) or be in root and run the command apachect -k start

I kept trying to run httpd and it didn't work.

Good luck.