John Swartzentruber wrote:
I use MySQL 4.1.9. when I installed Fedora Core 3, I opted not to install php or any of the databases, and I think there is an option not to install dovecot which has a dependency on mysql-3*. Most of the time though I seem forced to manually uninstall dovecot and mysql with 'rpm -e'. I then download the rpm packages I want from mysql.com and install them with rpm -ivh.I think this is a more general question than just MySQL, so I'm asking it here.
I am running FC3, which comes with MySQL 3.23. I would like to run a more recent version. I tried updating to version 4.1 using yum and the fedora-devel repository, but after downloading lots of updates and dependencies, it still ended up with an incompatibility and didn't do the update.
I don't want to screw up my system, but I would like to have the more recent MySQL. What is the best way to do this?
Similarly, what are the dangers of keeping the fedora-devel repository enabled? Once it updates things from that repository, can I go back?
Note: I back up my databases with mysqldump if I decide to upgrade an existing MySQL 4.1.x installation to a newer version.
When working with third party packages like this I'm sometimes uneasy about installing them if I know they won't follow the Fedora Core convention for file locations. I want a running database that works for my PHP scripts, so I install the binary packages without worrying about what locations binaries will install to. As long as the thing works after the rpm -ivh, why should I worry? This also holds true of stuff that I compile from source tarballs like postgresql-8.0.x. I don't care where they install to -- the default locations seem fine for now. The important thing is to have postmaster up and giving its databases lots of TLC and giving me access to same.
Bob Cochran
