why does php5 require apache?

[flits]

Im looking into various distributions to turn an old pc into a webserver. Today im trying out tinycore and ive noticed something strange:

The php5 package is listing apache2 as dependency which i find odd. I intended to use nginx or maybe lighttpd but not apache since apache uses more resources. So im wondering why apache2 is a dependency

[robc]

The php5 extension is php for apache, it includes the apache module

If you want to use php as stand-alone or for a different httpd server (ie lighttpd) then you should use the php5-cgi extension. There are some instructions in the info file for how to get it to work with lighttpd and apache. I haven't tried it with others.