I am doing some Python programming and need to use a library called Python Imaging Library [PIL] http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/ How do I install that on my web hosting server so that I can use it in my Python scripts? I am not allowed to install anything on the server (as far as I understand). I contacted tech support and they talked about the .htaccess file. What is that? I downloaded the PIL file and it contains numerous files; which one do I put in my cgi-bin folder or install? Obviously I am in deep and murky water here, so any help is greatly appreciated.
.htaccess is for your server to control permissions and is not relevant to installing PIL. http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/howto/htaccess.html
When you say you’re not allowed to install anything I am sure you mean you’re not allowed to install anything system wide as root user. But you should be able to compile a program locally in your home folder.
So, download the source for PIL and compile it on the server. Then move the PIL directory where your python scripts can see it.