I am trying to compile Python-2.7.10.  This is being done as a user, not root and I don't have access to /usr/local other than to avoid all the broken stuff in it.

My local is /appl/local

I am installing Python in /appl/local/python-2.7.10

I have ncursest as part of my /appl/local, but python keeps wanting to link with /usr/ccs/lib/libcurses.so.  UGH.
"ncursest" was built instead of "ncurses" because I used "--with-pthread" and "--enable-reentrant"


I rebuilt ncurses without those two flags but with --with-termlib which built libtinfo.so.  When compiling the _curses module, I get this error:

*** WARNING: renaming "_curses" since importing it failed: ld.so.1: python: fatal: relocation error: file build/lib.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/_curses.so: symbol _unctrl: referenced symbol not found

In this case I can see unctrl is in tinfo...but no matter what I do, I cannot get it to add -ltinfo to the link line.

$ nm -s libtinfo.so | grep unctrl
0001d4f8 T unctrl
00039170 r unctrl_blob.5682
00039070 r unctrl_c1.5681
0001d30c T unctrl_sp
00039572 r unctrl_table.5680


So my next attempt was to make a private copy of ncurses for Python without --with-termlib, but had to add --enable-termcap and install it in /appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib

$ ls -al /appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib
total 15584
drwxr-xr-x   4 gfp-ip   gfp-ip      1024 Jan 26 16:45 .
drwxr-xr-x   6 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        96 Jan 26 15:31 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip    120560 Jan 26 15:32 libform.a
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip      1055 Jan 26 15:32 libform.la
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        16 Jan 26 15:32 libform.so -> libform.so.6.0.0
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        16 Jan 26 15:32 libform.so.6 -> libform.so.6.0.0
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip     95604 Jan 26 15:32 libform.so.6.0.0
-rw-r--r--   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip     61908 Jan 26 15:32 libmenu.a
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip      1055 Jan 26 15:32 libmenu.la
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        16 Jan 26 15:32 libmenu.so -> libmenu.so.6.0.0
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        16 Jan 26 15:32 libmenu.so.6 -> libmenu.so.6.0.0
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip     48060 Jan 26 15:32 libmenu.so.6.0.0
-rw-r--r--   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip    174364 Jan 26 15:32 libncurses++.a
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip      1295 Jan 26 15:32 libncurses++.la
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        21 Jan 26 15:32 libncurses++.so -> libncurses++.so.6.0.0
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        21 Jan 26 15:32 libncurses++.so.6 -> libncurses++.so.6.0.0
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip    114812 Jan 26 15:32 libncurses++.so.6.0.0
-rw-r--r--   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip    628332 Jan 26 15:31 libncurses.a
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip      1019 Jan 26 15:31 libncurses.la
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        19 Jan 26 15:31 libncurses.so -> libncurses.so.6.0.0
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        19 Jan 26 15:31 libncurses.so.6 -> libncurses.so.6.0.0
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip    478356 Jan 26 15:31 libncurses.so.6.0.0
-rw-r--r--   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip     26324 Jan 26 15:31 libpanel.a
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip      1062 Jan 26 15:31 libpanel.la
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        17 Jan 26 15:31 libpanel.so -> libpanel.so.6.0.0
lrwxrwxrwx   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip        17 Jan 26 15:31 libpanel.so.6 -> libpanel.so.6.0.0
-rwxr-xr-x   1 gfp-ip   gfp-ip     23652 Jan 26 15:31 libpanel.so.6.0.0

$ nm /appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib/libncurses.so | grep unctrl
0004acac T unctrl
00067540 r unctrl_blob.5717
00067440 r unctrl_c1.5716
0004aac0 T unctrl_sp
00067942 r unctrl_table.5715

So ONCE again, compiling Python module _curses with the new lib:
Script started on Tue Jan 26 19:36:55 2016
$ make
running build
running build_ext
building dbm using ndbm
building '_curses' extension
gcc -fPIC -fno-strict-aliasing -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -DNCURSES_OPAQUE=0 -DNCURSES_REENTRANT=0 -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O3 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -I. -IInclude -I./Include -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -I/usr/local/include -I/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Include -I/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10 -c /appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_cursesmodule.c -o build/temp.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_cursesmodule.o
/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_cursesmodule.c: In function 'PyCursesWindow_ChgAt':
/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_cursesmodule.c:713:9: warning: implicit declaration of function 'mvwchgat' [-Wimplicit-function-declaration]
/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_cursesmodule.c:717:9: warning: implicit declaration of function 'wchgat' [-Wimplicit-function-declaration]
gcc -shared -L/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -Wl,-rpath,/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -lncurses -R/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -L/appl/local/lib -L/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -Wl,-rpath,/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -lncurses -R/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -L/appl/local/lib -fno-strict-aliasing -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -DNCURSES_OPAQUE=0 -DNCURSES_REENTRANT=0 -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O3 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -I. -IInclude -I./Include -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -DNCURSES_OPAQUE=0 -DNCURSES_REENTRANT=0 build/temp.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_cursesmodule.o -L/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -L/appl/local/lib -L/usr/local/lib -L. -Wl,-R/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -lncurses -lpython2.7 -o build/lib.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/_curses.so

*** WARNING: renaming "_curses" since importing it failed: ld.so.1: python: fatal: relocation error: file build/lib.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/_curses.so: symbol _unctrl: referenced symbol not found

building '_curses_panel' extension
gcc -fPIC -fno-strict-aliasing -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -DNCURSES_OPAQUE=0 -DNCURSES_REENTRANT=0 -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O3 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -I. -IInclude -I./Include -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -I/usr/local/include -I/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Include -I/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10 -c /appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_curses_panel.c -o build/temp.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_curses_panel.o
gcc -shared -L/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -Wl,-rpath,/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -lncurses -R/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -L/appl/local/lib -L/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -Wl,-rpath,/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -lncurses -R/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -L/appl/local/lib -fno-strict-aliasing -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -DNCURSES_OPAQUE=0 -DNCURSES_REENTRANT=0 -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O3 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -I. -IInclude -I./Include -I/appl/local/python-2.7.10/include -I/appl/local/include -DNCURSES_OPAQUE=0 -DNCURSES_REENTRANT=0 build/temp.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/appl/logs/local_build/src/python.org/Python-2.7.10/Modules/_curses_panel.o -L/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -L/appl/local/lib -L/usr/local/lib -L. -Wl,-R/appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib -lpanel -lncurses -lpython2.7 -o build/lib.solaris-2.10-sun4u.32bit-2.7/_curses_panel.so
*** WARNING: renaming "_curses_panel" since importing it failed: No module named _curses

Python build finished, but the necessary bits to build these modules were not found:
_bsddb             bsddb185           linuxaudiodev   
ossaudiodev                                           
To find the necessary bits, look in setup.py in detect_modules() for the module's name.


Failed to build these modules:
_curses            _curses_panel

Here is LDD output for the built python:
$ ldd python
        libncurses.so.6 =>       /appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib/libncurses.so.6
        libpython2.7.so.1.0 =>   /appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib/libpython2.7.so.1.0
        libsocket.so.1 =>        /lib/libsocket.so.1
        libnsl.so.1 =>   /lib/libnsl.so.1
        librt.so.1 =>    /lib/librt.so.1
        libdl.so.1 =>    /lib/libdl.so.1
        libm.so.2 =>     /lib/libm.so.2
        libc.so.1 =>     /lib/libc.so.1
        libgcc_s.so.1 =>         /appl/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
        libmp.so.2 =>    /lib/libmp.so.2
        libmd.so.1 =>    /lib/libmd.so.1
        libscf.so.1 =>   /lib/libscf.so.1
        libaio.so.1 =>   /lib/libaio.so.1
        libdoor.so.1 =>  /lib/libdoor.so.1
        libuutil.so.1 =>         /lib/libuutil.so.1
        libgen.so.1 =>   /lib/libgen.so.1
        /platform/SUNW,Netra-T12/lib/libc_psr.so.1
        /platform/SUNW,Netra-T12/lib/libmd_psr.so.1

$ nm /appl/local/python-2.7.10/lib/libncurses.so.6 | grep unctrl
0004acac T unctrl
00067540 r unctrl_blob.5717
00067440 r unctrl_c1.5716
0004aac0 T unctrl_sp
00067942 r unctrl_table.5715


Unfortunately I see this in /usr/ccs/lib/libcurses.so
$ nm /usr/ccs/lib/libcurses.so | grep unctrl
0003d5e8 D _unctrl
0000cb00 T unctrl


I don't see any reference to unctrl except this: 
./Modules/_cursesmodule.c:        knp = unctrl(rtn);
./Modules/_cursesmodule.c:    return PyString_FromString(unctrl(ch));
./Modules/_cursesmodule.c:    {"unctrl",              (PyCFunction)PyCurses_UnCtrl, METH_VARARGS},

none of which is referencing _unctrl

so it seems that python can never work with ncurses6...even though it seems there is support for it in the code.

Any help?