Building PostgreSQL 8.3.1 on OpenVMS 8.3 AXP

I am trying to build PostgreSQL 8.3.1 on OpenVMS 8.3 Alpha, patched to
UPDATE v6.0 ECO:
DEC AXPVMS VMS83A_UPDATE V6.0 Patch Install Val 14-MAR-2008

Using the HP C compilers:
HP C Version 7.3 for OpenVMS Alpha Systems
HP C++ Version V7.3 for OpenVMS Alpha Systems

And the GNU (GNV) POSIX userland:
DEC AXPVMS GNV V2.1-2 Full LP Install Val 22-MAR-2008

$ gcc --version
GNV Dec 10 2007 16:40:09
HP C V7.3-009 on OpenVMS Alpha V8.3

$ make --version
GNU Make version 3.78.1, by Richard Stallman and Roland McGrath.
Built for VMS

Anyway, I've setup the POSIX environment and fired up ./configure (I've
tried various templates for starters, since there isn't a default one for
OpenVMS):
What I've seen is that GNU autotools will create an empty conftest.c file,
and attempt compilation. While an empty file *does* compile to a.out, it
won't return 0, but 179.
bash$ gcc conftest.c

^
%CC-W-EMPTYFILE, Source file does not contain any declarations.
at line number 1 in file SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSMGR.VIM.GNU.ALPHA.POSTGRESQL-8_3_1
]CONF
TEST.C;1
%LINK-W-WRNERS, compilation warnings
in module CONFTEST file SYS$SYSROOT:[
SYSMGR.VIM.GNU.ALPHA.POSTGRESQL-8_3
_1]CONFTEST.O;2
%LINK-W-USRTFR, image SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSMGR.VIM.GNU.ALPHA.POSTGRESQL-8_3_1
]A.OUT;3
has no user transfer address

bash$ ./a.out
%DCL-E-NOTFR, no transfer address
bash$ echo $?
154

Of course, since configure will rewrite that file a *lot* of times, a simple
echo "#include <stdio.h> int main() { return 0 }" > conftest.c won't fix the
issue.

I've had similar issues / results on the z/OS / AS/390 platform, using c89.

Any other way around this then digging deep into autotools? Also, are there
any previous OpenVMS ports of PostgreSQL I could make use of?

BUILD LOGS:
==========

bash$ ./configure --with-template=AIX
%DCL-W-PARMDEL, invalid parameter delimiter - check use of special
characters
\.SH\
%DCL-W-IVVERB, unrecognized command verb - check validity and spelling
\HOSTINFO\
checking build system type... alpha-dec-vms
checking host system type... alpha-dec-vms
checking which template to use... AIX
checking whether to build with 64-bit integer date/time support... no
checking whether NLS is wanted... no
checking for default port number... 5432
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking whether the C compiler works...
%DCL-E-NOTFR, no transfer address
configure: error: cannot run C compiled programs.
If you meant to cross compile, use `--host'.
See `config.log' for more details.

$ TYPE config.log
PATH: /bin
PATH: /gnu/bin
PATH: /GNU/BIN
PATH: /usr/bin
PATH: /usr/local/bin
PATH: .
configure:1414: checking build system type
configure:1432: result: alpha-dec-vms
configure:1440: checking host system type
configure:1454: result: alpha-dec-vms
configure:1464: checking which template to use
configure:1564: result: AIX
configure:1706: checking whether to build with 64-bit integer date/time
support
configure:1738: result: no
configure:1745: checking whether NLS is wanted
configure:1780: result: no
configure:1788: checking for default port number
configure:1818: result: 5432
configure:2197: checking for gcc
configure:2197: found /gnu/bin/gcc
configure:2197: result: gcc
configure:2208: checking for C compiler version
configure:2214: gcc --version </dev/null >&5
GNV Dec 10 2007 16:40:09
HP C V7.3-009 on OpenVMS Alpha V8.3
configure:2214: $? = 0
configure:2219: gcc -v </dev/null >&5
? cc: No support for switch -v
%LINK-F-NOMODS, no input modules specified (or found)
configure:2219: $? = 2
configure:2224: gcc -V </dev/null >&5
GNV Dec 10 2007 16:40:09
HP C V7.3-009 on OpenVMS Alpha V8.3
configure:2224: $? = 0
configure:2246: checking for C compiler default output file name
configure:2295: gcc conftest.c >&5

--
Criveti Mihai
http://unixsadm.blogspot.com/ - UNIX, OpenVMS and Windows System
Administration, Digital Forensics, High Performance Computing, Clustering
and Distributed Systems.
In girum imus nocte, ecce et consumimur igni.