tar.z or rpms - newbie question

Hi,
  I am relatively new to Linux and absolutely new to PostGresql, PHP,
Apache.  I am going to install these on a New RH 6.2 install.  As RH
does not necessarily place files where other distros do, should I always
wait until the RPMs are avialable or should I live with the tar.z
distribution forms and say "ta hell" with RH's deviation from what I
perceive to the the remainder of the Linux community?

   I am aware that this may seem like flame bait, but once I install I
would like to concentrate on learning PG and PHP for web applications
and not fiddle with file locations.


Thanks,


Bob Hartung