Hi Sarah,
Just to add some thoughts about compiling under Ubuntu...
I have tried to compile the SUMA package 2 times under Ubuntu, and
did not succeed. I didn't try toooo hard, quitting after apparently
needing some package that would have changed the base x11 packages.
I didn't consider that acceptable, and quit.
So what I know is that it is at least difficult, and that the package
dependencies do not seem to appropriately cover the mesa packages.
Ubuntu seemed to work fine with existing binaries (with only a little
testing, though), but it did not seem to make it as a compile platform.
- rick