What I have tried ...
# apt-get install php5-dev
# apt-get install gearman-job-server libgearman-dev
# pecl install gearman
Result ...
...
configure: error: Please install libgearman
ERROR: `/tmp/pear/temp/gearman/configure' failed
Than I tried ...
# export GEARMAN_LIB_DIR=/usr/include/libgearman
# export GEARMAN_INC_DIR=/usr/include/libgearman
# pecl install gearman
Result ...
...
configure: error: libgearman version 0.21 or later required
Then I tried ...
# wget pecl.php.net/get/gearman-1.1.1.tgz
# tar -zxf gearman-1.1.1.tgz
# cd gearman-1.1.1
# phpize
Result ... same error as in attempt 2
Whats wrong?
Debian 6 only has version 0.13 of Gearman. You either need to upgrade that, or find an older version of the PHP extension. You could try installing the packages from testing.