It is always a bad idea to upgrade packages outside the main distribution stream. Better is to upgrade the whole OS to a later version that supports your software. If you do want to upgrade a single package the best way is to recompile a .src.rpm from the later distro for example: ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/opensuse/update/11.1/rpm/src/php5-5.2.11-0.1.1.src.rpm If you are lucky you do not run into other compatibility issues....