multipul users

ok so we have plenty of people who are able to do a multi site install of Drupal where they are the host and the developer, or don't have others working on the same site.  I have a situation where I have multipul users that should not have access to each others files and I don't want to have to create additional ftp accounts.

I am on a LAMP server and want to be able to offer my customers the option to have a 'one install to rule them all' set up, minimizing the time it takes to upgrade the system.  Drupal 5's overrides system works great for this.

So far I have seen the example of having the core files installed in to the doc root of some directory drupal directory and then having them have sob dir w/i that.

That set up does not work for a host running WHM/Cpanel who want to give their customers the option of running drupal off off a "group install".  And while I can operate w/o cpanel, the customers really like it, Cpanel is becoming an industry standard, just like Apache is (not looking to start a debate here). so I figure a thread on this is relevant for more then just me.

So now that I have justified my need, and explained the situation that I would like to make, here is the question.  Assuming that I have root access, what would I have to do to create a drupal install in /home/drupal_user/htdocs/drupal files.*, and have instances of that install with say:

• /home/customer_user_1/htdocs/settings.php
• /home/customer_user_2/htdocs/settings.php
• bla bla bla the list can go on.

Note that the site will have their own users but could belong to the same group and have the same group permissions.

 Well there you have it.  any one have the answer?