> /usr/lib/gcc/i386-redhat-linux/3.4.3/../../../../include/c++/3.4.3/bits/stl_bvector.h:522: 
> error: expected unqualified-id before '(' token
> 
> (There was loads more but I've snipped it)
> 
> Some searching on google has yielded the suggestion of installing the 
> compat-gcc packages, but I can't find too much solid information about 
> these things.

Some other Googling leads to the suggestion of undefining max (and min)
after including header files.
http://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/pipermail/boinc_dev/2004-December/001083.html

>  Is it safe to just install them? Once I have them 
> installed, how do I then use them?

The "compat" compiler would get installed as something like
"/usr/bin/gcc323", you need to modify your compilation environment to
use it. Not sure how "safe" it is to use (could get problems mixing
libraries compiled by the various versions, but maybe gcc3 is no longer
susceptible to this), but usually fixing your code is preferred.

Regards
jan