I am going through the EasyApache process, and I'm presented with 4 different PHP minor versions to choose from; 5.2.9, 5.2.17, 5.3.8, 5.3.9. Currently 5.2.17 is being used. I see on the PHP site that 5.3.9 is the current stable version, but what is the difference between using 5.2.17 and 5.3.9? I'm not sure which one to choose between the two, and why one would be better than the other.
Hello 
PHP 5.3 provides new features compared to PHP 5.2. The full change log from PHP can be found at:
PHP: PHP 5 ChangeLog
PHP also provides the following documentation regarding using PHP 5.3 over PHP 5.2:
PHP: Migrating from PHP 5.2.x to PHP 5.3.x - Manual
Thank you.
PHP 5.3 provides new features compared to PHP 5.2. The full change log from PHP can be found at:
PHP: PHP 5 ChangeLog
PHP also provides the following documentation regarding using PHP 5.3 over PHP 5.2:
PHP: Migrating from PHP 5.2.x to PHP 5.3.x - Manual
Thank you.
Keep in mind that some scripts are not compatible with 5.3.x. like old versions of Joomla, Wordpress and others.
In my opinion, using obsolete software to support more obsolete software is poor practice. PHP 5.2 has been unsupported for over a year. Hosting agreements should include clauses regarding the customer keeping their web apps up-to-date, not only for the benefit of the user, but for the benefit of all your users and the rest of the internet.
It would not be cost effective to update all web servers to a new PHP version. We would surely end up breaking thousands of websites and upsetting even more customers. With my hosting company, we do offer more up to date servers with newer versions of PHP which you can request be placed on, its just not something we would like to put out company wide. Once these scripts start to update, it would be a lot different.
