[Zope] ZOPE on an existing web server - possible?

[J Cameron Cooper]

>
>
>hi!
>
>We already have an apache web server running on linux with PHP.
>I was wondering if i can install ZOPE there. kinda like having 2 web
>servers? is that possible? am i making sense? 
>
>Thanks!!!
>  
>
I'm not actually going to answer your question, since others already 
have. Instead, I'll take the opportunity to address the whole range of 
questions about how Zope relates to other similar programs. I hope 
everybody who finds this tedious will forgive me. [I would put a smiley 
face here if I used emoticons.]

Unlike PHP, CGI, or mod_perl, Zope doesn't need to run under any other 
program. In fact, in most cases it shouldn't.

Zope is a standalone program with the ability to act as a webserver. It 
can quite happily do its job on a computer that's never been within a 
hundred miles of Apache or an other webserver. It can't run Apache 
modules or anything similar: the Zope webserver's job is to publish Zope 
objects, and it does little else.

Although Zope can act as a webserver, it's a good idea to not expose it 
to a hostile network, and let another program which is better at that 
(like Apache) run alongside and act as a rewriter/proxy/whatever.

So you leave Zope on port 8080 (which makes installation in Unix easier) 
and let Apache* take port 80 and rewrite/proxy incoming requests to 
Zope. This procedure is discussed all the time on the lists. That Apache 
can also serve up static and Apache-driven pages, like PHP, right 
alongside. Not only is this easy, it's also common and a good idea.

Zope can run under PCGI or some such, but except for the few cases where 
that's needed, it should be considered a Bad Idea.

* or any other web server that can rewrite/redirect/proxy/map/whatever.

             --jcc