specs:
apache 1.3.14
php snapshot 11.13.00
libxml2-2.2.8

configure error:
"checking for xmlFreeURI in -lxml...no
configure: error: DOM Module requires libxml >= 2.0"

notes:
configure command was "--with-dom=/usr/local/libxml2-2.2.8"

php was not ever able to find the libs if i installed them to /usr/lib.
it also could not find them if i installed to /usr/local/lib, and
specified that dir. the only way i got configure to see the libs was if
i compiled from source, and didn't do "make install". then configure
finally could see the libs, but gave me the xmlFreeURI error.

configure command "--with-dom"
libxml2-2.2.7 in /usr/lib
libxml2-devel in /usr/lib

still got xmlFreeURI error.

Sounds to me like you already have Debian's libxml installed,
which is 1.8.3. Make sure that no other libxml exists on
your system.

i already had apt-get removed libxml1

but to double-check, i did:
find / -name "libxml.*"
find / -name "libxml"
find / -name "tree.h"

and got only the current libxml2-2.2.7 and libxml-devel libs.

tried again compiling php4.03pl1 and the latest devel snapshot, but both
with same error: no xmlFreeURI.

I have just checked every version of libxml from 2.2.2 (which
is what I use) to the latest CVS, and they all have xmlFreeURI
defined in /<includepath>/libxml/uri.h...

If you still have the debian libxml-dev package installed,
then you need to apt-get remove it, as it contains the
headers for 1.8.2.

If you don't, where did you get your "libxml-devel lib"?

sorry i didn't specify. i am using libxml2-devel from the link at
http://www.xmlsoft.org/#Downloads.

just to double check, i grepped xmlFreeURI /usr/include/libxml/uri.h and
found it.

also, i removed all my php amd libxml sources and packages and
re-downloaded and went through my tests again last night. still got the
xmlFreeURI error.

note:
Php4.0.3pl1 configures past the --with-dom library check and the zlib
check, and then chokes on the "xmlFreeURI" error, *without* having the
libxml2-devel package installed.
When building php4-devel from 11.13.00, configure can't find the libs if
i don't have libxml2-devel package installed. After i install
libxml2-devel, *then* it gets the xmlFreeURI error.

update:

now attempting to build with a locally compiled libxml2-2.2.8,
prefix=/usr/local

php4.0.3pl1:
------------
--with-dom:
i get the same xmlFreeURI error, and configure keeps going.

--with-dom=/usr/local:
i get the same xmlFreeURI error, and configure exits immediately.

php4-devel
----------
--with-dom:
i get the same xmlFreeURI error, and configure exits immediately.
--with-dom=/usr/local:
i get the same xmlFreeURI error, and configure continues.

the behaviour is switched in the 2 versions(!?)

found the problem:

i needed to have the zlib1g-dev package installed.

that allowed me to build php4-devel from 11.13 successfully.

thanks for your help!

Then we can close this.