Dotdeb.org has released PHP 5.3.8 packages for Debian 6.0
Using Dotdeb is very simple: For the main Dotdeb repository, depending on your distribution (lenny/oldstable or squeeze/stable), add these two lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list file (choosing a mirror near you) : Squeeze : deb http://packages.dotdeb.org stable all deb-src http://packages.dotdeb.org stable all Lenny : deb http://packages.dotdeb.org oldstable all deb-src http://packages.dotdeb.org oldstable all (Optional) If you’re running Debian 5.0 “Lenny” and you want PHP 5.3 instead of the default PHP 5.2, add these two additionnal lines too : deb http://php53.dotdeb.org oldstable all deb-src http://php53.dotdeb.org oldstable all You don’t need this if you’re running Debian 6.0 “Squeeze” : PHP 5.3 is the default branch Then fetch the appropriate GnuPG key wget http://www.dotdeb.org/dotdeb.gpg cat dotdeb.gpg | sudo apt-key add - Run apt-get update You should now be able to use the Dotdeb packages with apt-get (or dselect, or aptitude as well…)