Thanks, that helped.
One problem, one request
request: mysql version currently mysql-standard-4.1.10a-pc-linux-gnu-i686. trouble is, this is a platform specific version which is not great for portable source install. further, this particular version is almost impossible to find on mysql.com, thus i've had to download 4.1.15, unpack, rename directory to 4.1.10a, repack and place where zimbra expects to find it. this version number is hardwired in several places through the build procedure.
problem: the source build of apache-httpd runs from the makefile in Thirdparty/apache-httpd, compiles, then packs the builds/
/httpd-2.0.54.tgz file. unfortunately this doesnt have the php module in it, so much later on after installation and setup you find this problem in the log files. its possible to build httpd, then build php, then rebuild httpd, but easier just postpone the packing until after php is built?