Slug has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi Perl Monks, I have a couple of questions, while they are not strictly focused on Perl I would appreciate any advice?

Recently I set up a basic home website .co.uk, I'm a student and thought I should practice my HTML and CGI skills.

I hadn't really researched the subject and was under the misconception that you could run CGI, PHP scripts with any provider, on all packages.

Because I am a student I signed up to the 1and1 beginner package, later I found out you can only run CGI scripts on the Business package.

I might be able to afford the next higher package (home) but am still in communication with 1and1 on whether it supports PHP.

Are there any UK providers which support CGI or PHP in all their packages?

Am I expecting too much for the price I pay?

I appreciate my question is out of the ordinary however I don't have anyone else to ask.

Thanks in advance.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: My package doesn't support CGI
by Corion (Patriarch) on Mar 07, 2008 at 08:05 UTC

    You can always use Perl to produce your HTML offline and then use Perl to upload your HTML to your website. You lose a bit of "interactivity", but if 1and1 in the UK offer the same packages as 1und1 in Germany do, you can get a lot of interactivity by using their form mailer and processing your incoming mails by Perl as well.

Re: My package doesn't support CGI
by scorpio17 (Canon) on Mar 07, 2008 at 14:36 UTC
    It's very hard to find web hosts that offer full CGI scripting support. The company that hosts perlmonks (see banner at top of page) offers a good package for about $30/month (that's US$). Most sites only allow HTML, however, since PHP is embedded inside HTML, you'll find more hosts supporting that (using the apache web server with mod_php). Beware of sites advertising "cgi support" which really only give you a few canned scripts (like counters or email forms) - you can link to them, but can't customize them or write your own. Even sites that DO let you write your own perl cgi scripts usually only provide support via the apache mod_cgi module, not mod_perl. That kind of support requires a dedicated server ($200/month). If you're just playing around with stuff and learning how things work, you might get the most for your money from a "virtual server hosting" company (google 'linode', for example). This gives you maximum flexibility, but may not be reliable enough for a production site.
      It's very hard to find web hosts that offer full CGI scripting support.
      It's not if you actually look for them. It will usually cost a bit more than a package without CGI or PHP support, though.

      My current package allows for 5 sites at about 200 euros a year, and that includes mysql, php, perl/CGI and mod_perl. I'm sure you can find cheaper packages for single sites (which may not include mod_perl).

Re: My package doesn't support CGI
by Anonymous Monk on Mar 07, 2008 at 08:03 UTC
Re: My package doesn't support CGI
by jhourcle (Prior) on Mar 07, 2008 at 15:12 UTC

    If you wanted to try to compare what services different web hosting companies offer and for what price, you could try some of the following. (note -- I have no idea how current these sites are ... I haven't worked for an ISP in 8+ years ... back in the dialup days)

    Well, that was a royal bust ... and wow, it makes me feel old. It seems that there are other lists out there, but they don't seem to be as user friendly. I mean, 5 providers per page? ... and they don't have the grids to compare different service offerings / prices from each company.

Re: My package doesn't support CGI
by proceng (Scribe) on Mar 09, 2008 at 15:56 UTC
    Recently I set up a basic home website .co.uk, I'm a student and thought I should practice my HTML and CGI skills.
    For doing practice, why not use a local server (apache, lighttpd, thttpd or if you really must IIS)? This allows you to practice your skills and determine what you will need to ask for when looking for a web host.
Re: My package doesn't support CGI
by Slug (Acolyte) on Mar 07, 2008 at 17:22 UTC
    Thanks everybody for the help.