Setting libs location when compiling

[yardbird <frbiscani libero it>]

Hi all, 
sorry for the (possibly) stupid question, but I have a problem when compiling 
gnumeric 0.64-0.65. I have SuSE linux 7.1, and when I install gnome and its 
libraries they are kept in:

/opt/gnome/lib, /opt/gnome/share, ...... etcetera

I also have configuration files in:

/etc/opt/gnome/

The problem is that when I ./configure gnumeric before compiling it says that 
it cannot find gconf files (for example gconf.sh -- or something like) and 
other stuff which is instead present in the directories above mentioned (I 
checked out). So, where does gnumeric want to find gnome files, and how can I 
setup so that ./configure searches for them in the right directories?

Thanks very much, sorry again for such stupid requests,

francesco