Quote:
If you install with apt-get you don't need to configure/make because you are installing the binaries.
Isn't that right?
He probably wants to install the latest version. Debian's version is a bit old, though I think not too dated as to be intolerable.
If you dare to use Debian unstable (like I do on my desktop), you will get PHP 5.2.9 instead of 5.2.6 (with Debian Stable - Lenny) or 5.2.0 (Debian Stable - Etch). Then you will not only have bleeding edge PHP, you will always have the very latest version of essentially each and every package on your system if you upgrade often enough.
Managing a Debian Unstable system is tedious, though. Be forewarned.