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I've read/seen various DB installation tutorials and one thing often perplexes me... sometimes I see people install both mysqldb & mysqldb-server, or only one or the other. My question is: are both calls needed? Or is it that installing one usually installs the other automatically?

If it matters at all, I am looking at this from the standpoint of installing Wordpress.

-- ps. I've seen the same for mariadb & mariabd-server, and I'm just as perplexed.

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These databases operate on the client-server model. A given machine may require either a client, a server, or both. I don't see what is surprising about that. If the database software is properly packaged, it should be possible to install either packages for either the client or the server software, because it is not necessary to have a client installed for the proper functioning of a server, and vice versa.

Yes, a database client will need a database server, but the usage model may involve a database server running on another machine, typically a server machine. And similarly, a server machine may only have a database server running on it, but the usage model may not require the server machine to have a client running locally on it.

These facts are not particular to databases, they are generally true for any software using the client-server model, which is a common paradigm.

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  • Thanks for your response. I understand the client/server model, but if I'm installing LAMP onto an empty server to run an application such as Wordpress, why would some tutorials only mention installing one or the other, or both? Jan 4, 2015 at 22:25
  • @RyanPrentiss I can't say without actual examples of tutorials. If you can include links to such tutorials, then it would be possible for people to comment specifically on them. Jan 4, 2015 at 22:27
  • mysql-server only rackspace.com/knowledge_center/article/… both mysql-server & mysql dev.antoinesolutions.com/mysql mysqld only youtube.com/watch?v=3RLZ4MYZtoc both mariadb-server & mariadb digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/… Jan 4, 2015 at 22:33
  • @RyanPrentiss Include links in the question, please. In any case, I think the answer is that the tutorials may choose to present things differently. There is nothing wrong with that, nor does it have significance outside how they choose to present it. Jan 4, 2015 at 22:36
  • I just realized in the video tutorial that while the guy may have only manually installed the Server, and the package manager installed the client as a dependency. Thanks for all the help Faheem. Jan 4, 2015 at 22:55

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