Since I started programming LAMP apps I wanted to develop an admin control panel for my boxes. (For fun and educational purposes, otherwise I would use something already existing in the market)But what always stopped me is I always heard exec() functions (the only way I know to achieve this) are the evil....you know: don't use them, it's bad coding, etc.What I never hear is a safer alternative for that purpose, so my question is:Is there any?Isn't enough to run that app in a dedicated web server, with a password protected document root?Well, that's my doubt. 
Is there a (relatively) safe way to run CLI commands from the web?
command line;php