make sure you don't have postgresql installed via debian / apt-get. if you do
purge the installation.
-make sure you have libreadline-dev package installed, otherwise you won't be
-able to use cursor/backspace in psql-shell.
-
the following things have to be done as superuser (if not otherwise stated):
-1. get the tarball from postgresql.org
+1. make sure you have:
+
+ libreadline-dev
+ perl-dev
+ ant >= 1.3
+ (blackdown) jdk1.3
-2. unzip/untar the tarball
+2. get the tarball from postgresql.org
+
+ tar xvfz postgresql-7.1.3.tar.gz
3. configure