wordpress - Best practices for setting up LAMP development environment - Super User

i'm having nightmare setting decent environment developing wordpress on local machine.

1. i'm manually tweaking file permissions every time add plugin.
2. i can't install themes or plugins through wordpress interface.
3. i have keep sudo-ing every time need modify contents of site folder i'm working on (theme files, etc.)
4. i've tried using xampp, comes built-in ftp setup, files uploaded via web interface given permissions of user nobody.

what best-practices setting decent lamp environment simulates -- @ least partially -- convenience of hosted environment?

i guess might start modifying apache configuration point develoment folder in ~/ folder, i've had terrible problems permissions there.

for record, i'm running xubuntu 9.10 on 1 system, , ubuntu-netbook 9.10 on other.

any advice or guide can refer this?

[edit] i'm not entirely opposed using vm (as seen here, last resort; netbook isn't powerful enough, , refer work on local copy of things. [/edit]

looks apache (and hence xampp) running user 'nobody', whereas wordpress install owned login userid. i'm guessing non-internet-accessible development server, in case easiest thing change run-as user in apache's httpd.conf login userid.

better practice install suphp or suexec, setting them bit harder above.