geometry data type

Sir/Madam,
                    We are working on MapServer with postgresql-8.1.8 on
fedora core 4. The geometry data type is not available in the linux version
of PostgreSQL. In postgresql 8.0.0beta5(windows version ) the  geometry data
type is available, which we use on our Windows machine. But it is not
available for linux in the newer version of postgresql also. Kindly suggest
some alternates for this so that we can proceed with our work.

Thank you.

--
With Regards
Sajan S.