can't authenticate to mysql through my browser

I can connect to mysql with my user profile, from a command line, no problem. But, when I try it using apache, no go. I did compile apache to use mysql. Any thoughts, CIA. Warning: mysql_pconnect(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2) in /var/www/html/classes/dbObjects.php on line 23