MySQLMan is based on PHPAdmin. It's an add on you can get to from the list at the PHP3 site.
It allows management of the MySQL server via the web.
Also, WebAdmin has a new module that is under development, and for most server management it's a great program.
Essentially these are tools that wrap the interactive portion of the process in graphical web calls, obviating the need for telnet access. WebAdmin runs as a root daemon/server, and handles requests via a different port. MySQLMan and PHPAdmin only manage the MySQL server, and do so through standard HTTP access of your main server.
I find perl much easier to modify and to work with than PHP (I never liked mixing code in my output, which is why I like templates, rather than hard-coded html), and it keeps my mind working in one ring rather than two.
I don't really like Javascript because it asks the browser to do a lot of work that should be done by the program or server, and I guess I feel the same about PHP. It asks the server to do a lot of stuff that should be done by other scripts.
I don't like embedding code in my pages, and having that code and the pages in the public tree.
I don't have a problem with using PHP the way you'd use an SSI or simple Javascript code to "fillin the blank" with updated information such as time, a current hit status, or the like.
I can see maybe making the site CGI generated with perl, and the output pages be .php3 so I can embed some function calls into them.
But, once you go that far, you start to wonder if using the features of mod_perl you couldn't get better performance by just cgi-generating the whole site, rather than asking the server to parse the file and just fill in the blanks.
Time will tell which will win out. But neither is "better" for all instances.
My biggest problem with PHP is the code is in the template files, which is in the httpd tree, which is a potential security problem.
Also, I find I much prefer passing the variables/values as a hash to a subroutine in a secured directory, and having a parser fill in the blanks and just pass a filled out page back to the user.
This has been the new religious war, and it will probably get worse :)
http://www.postcards.com FAQ:
http://www.postcards.com/FAQ/LinkSQL/