Here is a small howto for ubuntu 12.04 TLS using the git version. I hope it may be helpful to someone, I was strugling all day...
$ sudo apt-get install autoconf automake libtool
$ sudo apt-get install libusb-0.1-4 libusb-dev libpcsclite1 libpcsclite-dev libccid pcscd
$ sudo apt-get install git
$ git clone http://code.google.com/p/libnfc/
$ cd libnfc
$ mkdir /etc/nfc
$ mkdir /etc/nfc/devices.d/
$ sudo nano /etc/nfc/devices.d/pn532_via_uart2usb.conf
paste the following 5 lines into the pn532_via_uart2usb.conf:
## Typical configuration file for PN532 board (ie. microbuilder.eu / Adafruit) device
name = "Adafruit PN532 board via UART"
connstring = pn532_uart:/dev/ttyUSB0
allow_intrusive_scan = true
log_level = 3
$ sudo autoreconf -vis
$ ./configure --prefix=/usr --with-drivers=pn532_uart --sysconfdir=/etc
$ sudo make clean
$ sudo make
$ sudo make install all
plugin your ftdi usb
$ cd examples
$ sudo ./nfc-poll