gtk+-0.99.8 config problems

[John Kodis <kodis jagunet com>]

The installation of the gtk+-0.99.8 and gimp-0.99.21 combo has proven
very problematic for me.  I've made it past the "missing gtk.m4"
hurdle, but now I'm stuck.  On an i386 RH5.0 Linux box, the Gtk
installation proceeds without error using the usual "./configure;
make; su; make install" sequence, but the subsequent gimp .configure
fails with:

checking for gtk-config... gtk-config
checking for GTK - version >= 0.99.7... no
configure: error: Cannot include/link gtk/gdk/glib--check CFLAGS/LDFLAGS

The failing conftest.c program compiles and links successfully, but
when run fails with:

gimp-0.99.21% ./conftest 
./conftest: error in loading shared libraries
: undefined symbol: gtk_minor_version

Given that all previous gimp and gtk installations have gone
flawlessly with no more effort than the standard "configure; make;
make install" routine, this much configuration difficulty this close
to the release of 1.0 is quite surprising.  TIA for any help anyone
can offer.

-- John Kodis, temporarily frustrated gtk-developer wannabe.