> I checked and it didn't work. But how about installing only the
headers for uw-imap then? or is that impossible? In debian I've checked
and they have a package named libc-client-2001-dev and
libc-client-ssl2001-dev that contains all headers needed.
> Maybe emerge before and unmerge after PHP compiles is an option?

Perhaps.  You might want to post a bug about this topic on
bugs.gentoo.org.  I have no idea what compiling PHP with
direct imap support actually accomplishes, so I've no
idea whether or not the headers will suffice.

-g2boojum-