Our man Greg
Beaver has been working overtime getting the latest
version of the PEAR
package manager ready. He also has a blog which is a great
way to keep uptodate with all the latest PEAR package mgr
news. Some recent entries include:

• 
  Status update in development
• 
  The PECL dilemma
• 
  Further delays in release date of PEAR 1.4.0a1
• 
  Post-install Scripts in PEAR 1.4.0
• 
  Serious progress on PEAR development
• 
  PEAR 1.4.0 channels from the client side
• 
  Update to post-install scripts
• 
  Release of PEAR 1.4.0a1 imminent

If you really want to know everything that’s gone on with the package manager, you can read through the posts at http://news.php.net/php.pear.core.
And if you’ve read all this and you’re wonder "why is this guy always
going on about PEAR package mgr" (as indicated by the poll in the
bottom left corner 😉 then just keep in mind some of the following:

• one of the keys to the success of the Linux platform is tools like RPM, apt-get and more recently yum
• one of the pillars of Redhat’s success is the RHN or Redhat Network
• package management has a long history with other languages and a well-trodden track record with, eg, CPAN.