Problem with installation -- error in readline.c

My name is John Feezell and I am just starting to studying about and use
ruby.  I have run into a problem.  I'm not sure if this is bug or just 
related to the system I am using. I have submitted a bug report just in 
case but would appreciate any help I might get from members of the list.

Here is the situation:

I have access to two "virtual hosts" system that I access via telnet.
These are physically on two seperate machines managed by the same hosting
company.  I don't believe that the configuration of the two machines is
exactly the same.

I downloaded ruby-1.6.7 and installed it on one of the systems without any
problems.  I downloaded it again for the second system, completed
./configure but got the following message with make:
****************************************************************** 
compiling readline
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/ecomuniversity/usr/ruby-
1.6.7/ext/readline'
gcc -fPIC -g -O2  -I/home/ecomuniversity/usr/ruby-1.6.7 -
I/home/ecomuniversity/usr/ruby-1.6.7 -I/home/ecomuniversity/usr//include
E_READLINE_READLINE_H -DHAVE_READLINE_HISTORY_H  -c readline.c
readline.c: In function `readline_s_set_completion_append_character':
readline.c:175: `rl_completion_append_character' undeclared (first use
this function)
readline.c:175: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
readline.c:175: for each function it appears in.)
readline.c: In function `readline_s_get_completion_append_character':
readline.c:191: `rl_completion_append_character' undeclared (first use
this function)
make[1]: *** [readline.o] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/ecomuniversity/usr/ruby-
1.6.7/ext/readline'
******************************************************************

The env for this second machine is as follows:
******************************************************************
USERNAME=
ENV=/home/ecomuniversity/.bashrc
HISTSIZE=1000
HOSTNAME=periwinkle.propagation.net
LOGNAME=ecomuniversity
HISTFILESIZE=1000
MAIL=/var/spool/mail/ecomuniversity
TERM=ansi
HOSTTYPE=i386
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/loca
l/ssl/bin:/usr/local/java/bin:/usr/local/Hughes/bin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:/
usr/local/ssh/bin:/usr/spectro:.:/home/ecomuniversity/bin:/home/ecomuniver
sity/usr/bin
HOME=/home/ecomuniversity
SHELL=/bin/bash
PS1=\h:\w\$
PS2=>
USER=ecomuniversity
SSLTOP=/usr/local/ssl
OSTYPE=Linux
SHLVL=1
LS_COLORS=
_=/usr/bin/env
******************************************************************

To get past the problem I did the following:
1.  remove /ext/readline
2.  ran make
3   ran make install

There were no errors and I was able to access irb and ruby after the
install. I realize that this setup is not using the modified readline
program and so is not a complete, correct installation of ruby. 

Has anyone encounter this situation before?  Anyone able to provide me
with information about the exact problem? If possible, please let me know 
if you believe that this is a problem with readline.c in ruby-1.6.7 or
with the setup on the machine that runs my "virtual host."

Thanks