>    i don't want to tweak kernel for a configure script.
>    is there any other application which is known to have a problem?
> 
> this test has been in screen for a really long time and the behaviour
> it is expecting is on many platforms.  i'm curious why it's OK to
> change the definition of select() after so long?

I believe, but can't say for sure, that the change is also what makes
dns in firefox stop working after "a while". However, this notion is
entirely empirical so far.