The apache2
package is used to select the other packages you need as part of the Apache installation. apache2-mpm-prefork
defines which 'processing model' will be used (prefork
in this case). The other options are apache2-mpm-event
, apache2-mpm-itk
and apache2-mpm-worker
.
One is not necessarily more (or less) secure than another, as the differences between each are in how they handle setting up to receive new requests - MPM
== Multi-Processing Module
.
For most uses the apache2-mpm-worker
MPM is appropriate.
If you use aptitude
on your Debian system, when you select the apache2
package, apache2-mpm-worker
, apache2-utils
and apache2.2-common
will be selected for you automatically (along with any other support packages which are not already installed on your system). Similarly:
apt-get install apache2
Will install apache2
, apache2-mpm-worker
, apache2-utils
and apache2.2-common
.