> 1. Is there a "right" way to install software on Linux in general, an > CentOS in particular? For example, the Package Manager on CentOS 5.2 > allows you to install certain software, but often not the latest > version. So if I go download MySQL 5.0.67 from the web, how do I install > it and make it play nice with the rest of the system? Ditto for PHP > 5.2.6. And once installed (either by the Package Manager -- and by the > way, why are the apps it lists so out of date?), what's the best way to > update PHP and MySQL? Is it simply a matter of downloading the binaries > again and overwriting the existing install? On Mac OS X, such downloads > come as .pkg files that seem to take care of so many details without > requiring a trip to the command line. > > 2. Where should software, such as PHP, MySQL, Apache2, be installed? > /usr/bin ? > > 3. Is it a bad idea to install some software from the command-line via > wget, some software from the graphical Package Manager, and some > software from the the web? What I mean is, so far it seems like Linux > manages the list of installed packages, and I just wonder if I'm > screwing things up this way. The recommended way to install software is using a yum or at least rpm. The further you stray from core CentOS packages installed the CentOS way, the more likely you will get stuck with a broken system that this list or the forums will find difficult to support. That said, there are some good repos out there including dag.wieers.com and EPEL. The versions used in CentOS are derived directly from the upstream product. This is an enterprise distro after all, stability is valued more highly that being on the bleeding edge. But yes, old versions of PHP and PostgreSQL can be problematic when something like the latest Drupal (7) requires PHP5.2, and PostgreSQL 8.3 is way better than 8.1. It is possible to upgrade these but not possible to describe how to do it here. Google can help. Software should be installed wherever the RPM wants to put it. It is all about maintaining a stable, reliable system in a known state.