Hi,
I'm not a real web or php guru, so I can only answer one part of your 
question.

Johan Mares wrote:
> During installation of SL5 I chose to install webserver (apache, php, 
> pear, unixODBC, sqlite, mysql, ...)
> Using phpinfo() I notice that the configure command was
> ... --without-pear --without-sqlite --without-mysql --without-gd 
> --without-unixODBC --disable-pdo ...
> 
> Yet PEAR, MySQL, PDO, ... are installed. I can install and use PEAR 
> packages, I can connect to databases and query them with mysql 
> functions, I can connect to MySQL database using PDO functions, ...
> 
> It looks like a contradiction to me. Unless I should not trust solely on 
> the view of the configure command but also on the list with additional 
> ini files ?
> 
> By the way if I want to install extra php modules (I think that is the 
> right term for things like php-xml, php-xmlrpc, ...) how do I do that ? 
> With add/remove software (limited choice) or do I have to custom install 
> Apache instead of using SL installation ?


> Is it possible to upgrade to a higher PHP (e.g. 5.2.1) version without 
> breaking the updater of SL ? I know that bugfixes and security updates 
> are normally backported but, alas not the new features.
Yes, you can update to a higher PHP.
This will not break the SL updater.
BUT, you will not automatically  get updates for PHP, or whatever else 
you upgraded while updating your PHP.

Troy
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Troy Dawson  [log in to unmask]  (630)840-6468
Fermilab  ComputingDivision/LCSI/CSI DSS Group
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