How to install python on clean RH7.1 install

[Ken]

Hi,

I'm trying to install Python 2.1-5 onto a newly installed RH7.1.  The
RH install was done pretty cleanly, so not a lot of the RPMs have been
installed (I've installed some along the way, as dependencies came
up).

My quesions are these:

1).  Is it possible to "upgrade" the python 1.5.2 that is installed
with RH7.1?  (I couldn't easily avoid installing it - because it was a
dependency for a lot of packages.  That said, I cannot easily
uninstall the RPM for 1.5.2).

2).  If not, what way is more or less a fail-safe way of installing
python into a new directory.  I have tried the following already:

- installing from the src.rpm file -- the installer stopped short of
creating the RPM file... something about it not finding a lot of files
(that it was to have compiled).  It made it through the check, and did
about 5 minutes of compiling, then stopped.

- installing from the rpm file.  The dependencies failed were
libcrypto, and libssl -- but I have NO idea where to find these
(preferrably RPMs).

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Kc