Why Would an .htaccess file cause a 500 error?

Simple redirects don't just fail - they kill

[rainborick]

This is more of a philosophical question than a search for a solution - but I'd be happy to hear about any possible solutions anyway. A client's site is giving off 500 errors whenever I add a .htaccess file. It brings the whole site down whenever the .htaccess file isn't completely empty. I can understand a host wanting to limit the capabilities of a site, but this seems either the result of an obsessive host or a simple oversight somewhere. Before I approach the host or the client about it, I'd like to be much better informed than I am now. Is this common and I'm just uninformed? Rare, but not unheard of? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[jdMorgan]

The host will say "it's for security" and that is partly true -- It's easier to secure a server if the users can't do anything but run pre-configured scripts in a well-defined and fixed environment.

The real reason is that it's cheaper for the host --both in security-maintenance costs and in support costs-- to limit the users in this manner. For the same reasons, many hosts which allow some .htaccess directives to be used won't allow mod_rewrite to be used, because putting that tool into the hands of users can send their support costs through the roof.

Jim

[rainborick]

Thanks. I'm sure you're right, although I was puzzled about why the server would return an error code rather than simply ignore the illegal instructions.

[jdMorgan]

Look in your server error log file... It will tell you exactly why.

No error log file? Get a better host... :)

Jim