# lsb_release -a
LSB Version:    :core-3.1-ia32:core-3.1-noarch:graphics-3.1-ia32:graphics-3.1-noarch
Distributor ID: CentOS
Description:    CentOS release 5.3 (Final)
Release:        5.3
Codename:       Final

wget http://yum.chrislea.com/centos/5/i386/chl-release-5-3.noarch.rpm
rpm -ivh chl-release-5-3.noarch.rpm
rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY-CHL

yum -y install mysql-python

比起编译要方便得多