> I assume some system tools must use them, even if I don't. I don't know if > I can just copy all this into the 2.4 site-packages (deleting .pyc and .pyo) > and get what I need.
Copying pure python site-packages from python23 to python24 should be safe, but the binaries (.so) will not work because they're linked to libpython2.3.so. If you're determined to stick to RPMs, you will need to find an RPM that is built specifically for Python 2.4 for any package that involves a C extension (e.g. mysqldb). RedHat does use some Python scripts internally, so you will want to make sure that everything it needs is present in the new installation before you switch /usr/bin/python to 2.4. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list