Q:

PHP: I don't think I can re-compile PHP, what should I do to use the bzip2 library?

I am on shared hosting, and I noticed the PHP does not include bzip2. It seems I would have to re-compile PHP inorder to use this. I don't think shared hosting allows this, so is there any alternative to my situation or bzip2?

A:

If your host allows dl() (I doubt it), you can dynamically load a shared extension.
Checklist for dl:

dl should not be listed in disable_functions
safe_mode off
PHP < 5.3
enable_dl On
Operating system (Win32 requires DLLs, Linux requires .so files)
The extension should be available in the extension directory of PHP.

The best thing you can do is asking your host to enable bzip2 support, and otherwise search for an alternative. There are plenty hosts with bzip2 supported.

