Please take a look at the following snippet that ./configure outputs. In particular, the spurious text between "compiler options" and "linker flags" is due to libnet-config. Thing is, this bit of text is creeping into the Makefiles and compilation fails. My efforts at troubleshooting follow the snippet. ----------------start code--------------------------------- checking for TCP wrapper library... -lwrap checking for OPENSSL... yes checking for dlsym in -ldl... yes checking for inflate in -lz... yes checking for dlsym in -ldl... (cached) yes checking for LIBDBI... yes checking for LIBNET... Unknown option: - Unknown option: e Unknown option: f Unknown option: - Unknown option: l yes checking whether to enable Sun STREAMS support... no checking whether to enable Sun door support... no checking whether to enable SQL support... yes checking whether to enable Linux capability support... yes checking whether to enable PCRE support... yes checking for pkg-config... (cached) /usr/bin/pkg-config checking pkg-config is at least version 0.14... yes checking for GLIB - version >= 2.10.1... yes (version 2.12.3) checking for EVTLOG... yes checking for LIBNET... Unknown option: - Unknown option: e Unknown option: f Unknown option: - Unknown option: l yes checking for static GLib libraries... yes checking sanity checking Glib headers... yes configure: creating ./config.status config.status: creating dist.conf config.status: creating Makefile config.status: creating syslog-ng.spec.bb config.status: creating src/Makefile config.status: creating doc/Makefile config.status: creating doc/docvars.xml config.status: creating contrib/Makefile config.status: creating tests/Makefile config.status: creating debian/Makefile config.status: creating tgz2build/Makefile config.status: creating tests/unit/Makefile config.status: creating tests/functional/Makefile config.status: creating tests/loggen/Makefile config.status: creating config.h config.status: config.h is unchanged config.status: executing depfiles commands syslog-ng Open Source Edition 3.0.1 configured Compiler options: compiler : gcc compiler options : -O3 -I/opt/system/include -Wall - pthread -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib64/glib-2.0/include -I/opt/ system/include/eventlog -I/usr/kerberos/include daytime_hosts ftp_ext_passive 1 ftp_firewall ftp_int_passive 0 ftp_testhost inet_domain dept.univ.edu nntp_hosts ph_hosts pop3_hosts smtp_hosts snpp_hosts test_exist 1 test_hosts 1 time_hosts This script will prompt you to enter hostnames that can be used as defaults for some of the modules in the libnet distribution. To ensure that you do not enter an invalid hostname, I can perform a lookup on each hostname you enter. If your internet connection is via a dialup line then you may not want me to perform these lookups, as it will require you to be on-line. Do you want me to perform hostname lookups (y|n) ? [yes] The following questions all require a list of host names, separated with spaces. If you do not have a host available for any of the services, then enter a single space, followed by <CR>. To accept the default, hit <CR> Enter a list of available NNTP hosts : [] Enter a list of available SMTP hosts : [] Enter a list of available POP3 hosts : [] Enter a list of available SNPP hosts : [] Enter a list of available PH Hosts : [] Enter a list of available TIME Hosts : [] Enter a list of available DAYTIME Hosts : [] Do you have a firewall/ftp proxy between your machine and the internet If you use a SOCKS firewall answer no (y|n) ? [no] Normally when FTP needs a data connection the client tells the server a port to connect to, and the server initiates a connection to the client. Some setups, in particular firewall setups, can/do not work using this protocol. In these situations the client must make the connection to the server, this is called a passive transfer. Should all FTP connections be passive (y|n) ? [no] What is your local internet domain name : [dept.univ.edu] If you specified some default hosts above, it is possible for me to do some basic tests when you run `make test' This will cause `make test' to be quite a bit slower and, if your internet connection is via dialup, will require you to be on-line unless the hosts are local. Do you want me to run these tests (y|n) ? [yes] To allow Net::FTP to be tested I will need a hostname. This host should allow anonymous access and have a /pub directory What host can I use : [] Writing libnet.cfg -I/usr/dbi -I/usr/dbi/dbi -D_GNU_SOURCE - D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 linker flags : -L/opt/system/lib prefix : /opt Features: Sun STREAMS support : no Sun Door support : no Debug symbols : no GCC profiling : no Memtrace : no IPV6 support : yes spoof-source support : yes tcp-wrapper support : yes SSL support : yes SQL support : yes Linux capability support : yes PCRE support : yes Env wrapper support : no ----------------end code--------------------------------- The following line in configure are responsible: ----------------start code------------------------------- { echo "$as_me:$LINENO: checking for LIBNET" >&5 echo $ECHO_N "checking for LIBNET... $ECHO_C" >&6; } if test "x$with_libnet" = "x"; then LIBNET_CONFIG="`which libnet-config`" else LIBNET_CONFIG="$with_libnet/libnet-config" fi if test -n "$LIBNET_CONFIG" -a -x "$LIBNET_CONFIG"; then LIBNET_CFLAGS="`$LIBNET_CONFIG --defines`" LIBNET_LIBS="`$LIBNET_CONFIG --libs`" { echo "$as_me:$LINENO: result: yes" >&5 echo "${ECHO_T}yes" >&6; } else LIBNET_LIBS= { echo "$as_me:$LINENO: result: no" >&5 echo "${ECHO_T}no" >&6; } fi ----------------end code--------------------------------- libnet-config it seems does not expect the arguments `` --defines" or ``--libs" and is outputting all the text above. See the following lines above? Unknown option: - Unknown option: e Unknown option: f Unknown option: - Unknown option: l Searching on the web reveals that libnet-config is outdated and should not even be present on modern linux systems. Pointers towards how to proceed from here much appreciated. Ritesh Sood