https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=800867
--- Comment #6 from Jason Corley jason.corley@gmail.com --- it's definitely possible to get php >= 5.2 on rhel5, through either the php53 rhel5 packages or through other means (I'm personally using the ius repos and php53u packages). since it's not a standard path though I imagine it's not a big priority for you, I just figured I'd mention that with that one very minor tweak it builds and runs in my random custom configuration. I should note I haven't tried out the 1.9 version though, just the 1.8.2 package thus far.