Comments - MariaDB versus MySQL - Compatibility
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Yes, you can install any number of forks/versions. Install from generic Linux binaries, as explained here: https://mariadb.com/kb/en/installing-mariadb-binary-tarballs/ By running those commands, 2 different dirs will be created, so each software will have its own datadir, config files, etc. If you are going to run them together (but why?), just change the port of one for them in my.cnf. If you are going to run them separately (sounds more reasonable), just create a symlink which points to the server you are going to run, so you can always use the same scripts/menu items/guis: sudo rm /usr/local/mysql sudo ln /usr/local/mariadb-5.5 mysql
Similar steps for Windows. Use the noinstall package.