Cofiguring or recopiling PHP package

["Bruce Ward" <wardb@nbo.net.au>]

New to Debian (and linux) and trying to install an open source system built
on PHP, Apache and PostgreSQL. The syetm requires a particular
configiguration of PHP and comes with a suggested configuration script for
use prior to compiling PHP. That is a script something like:

	./configure -- with php -- with many more with statements
	make
	make install

I have installed Apache, PHP and PostgreSQL for the Debian package system,
but have not been able to work out where I can run the config script within
the debian file system.

I also tried downloading a generic PHP package from the PHP world, but that
fails about halfway through the configiration process, with a message like:

	checking for OpenSSL support... yes
	checking for pkg-config... /usr/bin/pkg-config
	configure: error: Cannot find OpenSSL's <evp.h>

Using Debian Sarge on an intel based PC.

Any help or tips on how to move forward would be greatly appeciated.