How to obtain the latest version of LAMP on Ubuntu:

(Apache 2.2 + MySQL 5.1 + PHP 5.2 + PERL 5.10 +PEAR + SQLite + ProFTPD + phpMyAdmin + Webalizer + phpSQLiteAdmin + XAMPP Control Panel)
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/223410
http://www.apachefriends.org/f/viewtopic.php?t=21531#108517

The commands in this HOWTO must be entered in the terminal:
Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal

Download XAMPP to your desktop and extract the files:
http://apachefriends.org/xampp-linux
cd ~/Desktop
wget http://www.apachefriends.org/download.php?xampp-linux-1.7.1.tar.gz
sudo tar xvfz xampp-linux*.tar.gz -C /opt

Create a XAMPP start menu entry:
cd ~/.local/share/applications
gedit xampp-control-panel.desktop

Paste the following into the open file:
[Desktop Entry]
Comment=Start/Stop XAMPP
Name=XAMPP Control Panel
Exec=gksudo "python /opt/lampp/share/xampp-control-panel/xampp-control-panel.py"
Icon[en_CA]=/usr/share/icons/Tango/scalable/devices/network-wired.svg
Encoding=UTF-8
Terminal=false
Name[en_CA]=XAMPP Control Panel
Comment[en_CA]=Start/Stop XAMPP
Type=Application
Icon=/usr/share/icons/Tango/scalable/devices/network-wired.svg

[Desktop Entry]
Comment=Start/Stop XAMPP
Name=XAMPP Control Panel
Exec=gksudo /opt/lampp/share/xampp-control-panel/xampp-control-panel
Icon[en_CA]=/opt/lampp/htdocs/xampp/img/logo-small.gif
Encoding=UTF-8
Terminal=false
Name[en_CA]=XAMPP Control Panel
Comment[en_CA]=Start/Stop XAMPP
Type=Application
Icon=/opt/lampp/htdocs/xampp/img/logo-small.gif

Save and close the file.

Publish:
XAMPP uses /opt/lampp/htdocs as the root web directory, but you can publish pages in your home directory this way.
cd ~
mkdir public_html
sudo ln -s ~/public_html /opt/lampp/htdocs/$USER

Now any files and folders you place in ~/public_html will be
published to your personal webserver.

Start XAMPP via the terminal:
cd /opt/lampp
sudo ./lampp start

Stop XAMPP (if necessary):
cd /opt/lampp
sudo ./lampp stop

Via the XAMPP Control Panel:
Applications -> Other -> XAMPP Control Panel

If Apache2 or MySQL is already running, then XAMPP will not start. You must stop these applications, if you want to use XAMPP:
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 stop
sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop

PHP5 is the default, but you can switch between PHP4 and PHP5, if you like:
cd /opt/lampp
sudo ./lampp php4
sudo ./lampp php5

Open your new webpages at:
http://localhost/username/

Security:
http://apachefriends.org/xampp-linux/381

1. The MySQL root user has a blank password.
2. MySQL is accessible via your local network.
3. ProFTPD has user “nobody” with password “lampp”.
4. PhpMyAdmin is accessible via the local network.
5. Examples are accessible via the local network.
6. MySQL and Apache running under the same user “nobody”.

To configure some of the security features of xampp:
cd /opt/lampp
sudo ./lampp security