The build is broken when configure selects termcap as the support for text 
mode. (Note: This problem has been around for years.)

This problem is hidden on systems where the curses library is installed. 
Maybe terminfo also works that way too but I'm not sure. This might explain 
why the problem isn't that frequent since terminfo and curses are likely top 
be installed.

But ... The problem has lately been observed on a Ubuntu system. Maybe 
modern system with little need for text based applications don't install 
terminfo nor curses and the problem surfaces again?