I'm trying to build a library (librets) that links against boost libraries in order to build a shared library (as part of a SWIG based python extension). The target machine, as well as all of my development machines at the moment, are the x86_64 architecture. I've done most of my work on an ubuntu 9.04 box. I've tried with the boost packages available from the ubuntu repositores, and I have also, in case those packages were miss-built, successfully built (and tried the examples, successfully) boost 1.43.0 from source, getting no errors from ./bjam install . In either case, I wind up with the following error when trying to build librets: /usr/bin/ld: /home/f/Desktop/rets/lib/libboost_system.a(error_code.o): relocation R_X86_64_32 against `.rodata.str1.1' can not be used when making a shared object; recompile with -fPIC Googling around, this seems to be a problem only seen on x86_64 machines. (Why one doesn't need to make position independent code for the 32 bit machines, if that is in fact true, is beyond me.) So, I'm wondering if someone else with this issue has already figured out how to get around it. Or, if not, can someone tell me how to tell the bjam stuff to apply -fPIC so that I can try that. (I'm an old timer. If it were make based, I could hack it myself, but I'm hesitant to learn all about the boost build system for what is for me a side task.) Or if someone knows that the -fPIC won't help, or has alternate suggestions, please let me know. TIA, Bill