Anyway, if you're happier with (menalto) gallery: it's a fine product with great features as well. After all, you needed a photo gallery, and you finally found one that works for you what else could I say?
I wouldn't say I'm happier with it. It works, but doesn't have quite the same features and is too slow. That's why I want to check out Coppermine. I've seen sites using it and it seems to be pretty good.
Is there any kind of definitive instructions on server config anywhere? i.e. what exact components are required to be configured in Apache & PHP, and specific settings required in php.ini ?
The instructions mention things about servers not configured right and using 'chmod 0777', etc, but they don't mention *how* to configure the server right, only the workarounds. Though I don't think the chmod stuff is the problem as it's the same whether it's 0755 or 0777 permissions.
Surely there must be plenty of RedHat users out there that have set up Coppermine with the stock Apache & PHP? I've checked my PHP config again with phpinfo() and it seems to have everything you could possibly want configured, same with Apache. Certainly far more than you'd get with the default configurations.
Update: - Turns out it was the server after all!
I found this thread...
http://forum.coppermine-gallery.net/index.php?topic=612and the solution was to install the 'php-mysql' RPM.
This despite the fact that phpinfo() reports mysql was installed, it turns out it wasn't. A "yum install php-mysql" followed by an apache restart got it working.
So a little instruction for Redhat/Fedora users is to install at least the following RPMs...
mysql
mysql-admin
php-mysql
(and any dependents it prompts for)