In case you have been looking or even wondering why debian linux (on POWER) is failing with the 'c' option - from a manual Configure I am getting this result: The default should almost always be sensible, so if you're not sure, just accept the default. List of earlier versions to include in @INC? [none] <malloc/malloc.h> NOT found. <malloc.h> found. Checking to see how big your pointers are... Your pointers are 4 bytes long. *** You have chosen a maximally 64-bit build, *** but your pointers are only 4 bytes wide. *** Please rerun Configure without -Duse64bitall. *** Since you have quads, you could possibly try with -Duse64bitint. *** Cannot continue, aborting. ==== My assumption is that this is a 64-bit kernel, so I am amazed with the issue. Looking into it - and for now shall drop -Duse64bitall from the smokeThread Next