I run my web servers by compiling the most important components from source code, which makes it possible for me to add security fixes more quickly and fine-tune my installations of Apache, MySQL and PHP. While compiling the new release PHP 5.2.8 this weekend, the make process failed with this error:

/usr/bin/ld: /usr/mysql/lib/mysql/libz.a(compress.o): relocation R_X86_64_32 against 'a local symbol' can not be used when making a shared object; recompile with -fPIC
/usr/mysql/lib/mysql/libz.a: could not read symbols: Bad value

Naturally, I had absolutely no idea what this meant.

The file libz.a is part of the Zlib compression library, which apparently is included in MySQL 5.0. A Google search for the error message uncovered a bunch of people suffering the same problem I encountered when compiling programs on Linux. The best explanation I found was a Gentoo Linux page on how to fix -fPIC errors. Unfortunately, none of Gentoo's tips worked for me.

Through trial and error (and error and error), I finally solved the problem by compiling a new copy of Zlib and specifying that it create a Unix shared library using the -s option:

./configure --prefix=/usr/zlib -s

Next, I added the option --with-zlib-dir=/usr/zlib when running configure to prepare PHP for installation. This didn't work until I figured out one last obstacle -- the Zlib option must be placed before the --with-mysql option. Otherwise, PHP tries to use the copy of Zlib included with MySQL.

Everything now compiles and runs successfully. So until the next time I try to install something, I can return my ego to its upright position. My new Linux technique is unstoppable.