First apply the patch patch -Np1 -i ../sgml-common-0.6.3-manpage-1.patch The autotools files included along with sgml-common are old. Use the following commands to regenerate the files. aclocal && automake -acf && autoconf Install SGML Common by running the following commands: ./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc --mandir=/usr/share/man && make && make install && install-catalog --add /etc/sgml/sgml-ent.cat \ /usr/share/sgml/sgml-iso-entities-8879.1986/catalog && install-catalog --add /etc/sgml/sgml-docbook.cat \ /etc/sgml/sgml-ent.cat Remove the above catalog items prior to upgrading with: install-catalog --remove /etc/sgml/sgml-ent.cat \ /usr/share/sgml/sgml-iso-entities-8879.1986/catalog && install-catalog --remove /etc/sgml/sgml-docbook.cat \ /etc/sgml/sgml-ent.cat